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Curiosity rover  (Source:











Source: CNN

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RE: Befuddled article
By boeush on 6/3/2013 8:44:18 PM , Rating: 3
The data from Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector seems to have only been acquired since arriving at Mars, not during the trip TO mars.
Actually, precisely the opposite. The data in question was acquired during the trip to Mars. Of course, the same instrument is also continuing to acquire data about radiation exposure on Mars' surface, but that data hasn't yet been accumulated in sufficient quantities and/or sufficiently analyzed yet to report to the public...

While the instrument was in flight, it was shielded inside the spacecraft; thus the data indicates approximate levels of radiation that astronauts in a shielded spacecraft would receive on a transit to (and from) Mars.

Radiation levels on Mars' surface will be lower than in deep space, firstly because you only get half as much exposure to cosmic rays (the other half being blocked by the body of the planet beneath you), and secondly because Mars' atmosphere and magnetic fields (however feeble) do provide some additional shielding.
As for ionizing radiation protection ON Mars: find or dig a cave.
That would be good advice even absent radiation. Mars' thin atmosphere wouldn't provide much protection against small meteoroids, either -- so unless you enjoy life in a shooting gallery, probably best to go underground. As an extra bonus, you won't have to deal with the wild swings in temperature between night and day, and you'd be better shielded from the dust...

