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Discipline

Space Radiation Biology

The study of how the radiation of space — galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles — affects living tissue, and how crews can be protected beyond the shelter of Earth's magnetic field.

In brief

How space radiation affects the body, and how to shield it.

In this discipline

  • Radiation ShieldingCountermeasure

    Protecting crews from space radiation with mass — hydrogen-rich materials, water, or regolith — and with mission design, such as storm shelters for solar particle events and limits on time beyond the magnetosphere.

Knowledge connections

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

    Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

    Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.