Abstract

NASA was recently charged with returning humans to the lunar surface within the next five years. This will require preparation for spaceflight missions of longer distance and duration than ever performed in the past. Protecting the crew and mission from the hazards associated with spaceflight will be a priority. One of the primary hazards to address is the challenging radiation environment. Space is unforgiving when it comes to radiation. There is galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) that is pervasive in space and the possibility of solar particle events (SPE) that release high energy particles from the sun that can result in high doses of radiation to the crew if unprotected. NASA has been preparing and evaluating several means of ensuring that crew health is not compromised during these missions. Physical shielding, space weather monitoring, and more recently storm shelters are all possible means of protecting crew during a SPE. Medical countermeasures have not been necessary for operations in low Earth orbit; however, future human exploration missions should consider including therapies onboard to address radiation-induced health effects. While the likelihood of experiencing a significant SPE is very low, serious adverse health effects or even death could occur if no medical countermeasures were available. Having a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medical countermeasure on board that could mitigate acute radiation-induced hematopoietic syndrome due to a SPE could provide life saving measures for the crew. This paper discusses the mitigation strategies that can be implemented for Artemis missions and identifies numerous areas of research for future improvements.

摘要

美国宇航局最近被指控在未来五年内将人类送回月球表面。这将需要为比以往任何时候都执行的距离和持续时间更长的太空飞行任务做准备。保护机组人员和任务免受与太空飞行相关的危险将是当务之急。需要解决的主要危害之一是具有挑战性的辐射环境。在辐射方面，太空是无情的。银河宇宙辐射 (GCR) 在太空中普遍存在，太阳粒子事件 (SPE) 可能会从太阳释放高能粒子，如果不受保护，可能会对机组人员造成高剂量的辐射。NASA 一直在准备和评估几种方法，以确保在这些任务期间不会损害机组人员的健康。物理屏蔽、空间气象监测、最近，风暴避难所都是在 SPE 期间保护船员的所有可能手段。在低地球轨道上的运行不需要医疗对策；然而，未来的人类探索任务应考虑在船上加入治疗以解决辐射引起的健康影响。虽然发生严重 SPE 的可能性非常低，但如果没有可用的医疗对策，可能会发生严重的不良健康影响甚至死亡。在船上拥有食品和药物管理局 (FDA) 批准的医疗对策，可以减轻由 SPE 引起的急性辐射诱导的造血综合征，可以为船员提供挽救生命的措施。本文讨论了可以为 Artemis 任务实施的缓解策略，并确定了未来改进的众多研究领域。