The astronauts could have armor or an electromagnetic force field to protect them, but this is not very practical, Douglas Terrier, NASA’s acting chief technologist, told the Times.
“We’re looking at a range of things, from drug therapies, and those seem to be quite promising, to more extreme things like epigenetic modification,” Terrier said. “I think those have a lot of ethical consequences so they’re still in the experimental thought stages.”
Epigenetic modifications would involve altering the way genes are read without changing the actual DNA code. This would be achieved by altering chemicals that control gene volumes so their activity could be silenced or amplified in a given situation.
Genes could also be changed to boost the cell resilience. This way, cancer and radiation-related issues could be prevented from developing.
The spaceship to Mars would be run by a “strong” artificial intelligence program that could identify diseases and direct robotic surgery, Terrier said. This is necessary because of the 20-minute delay in communicating with Earth.
The 100 million-mile journey to Mars could be sped up with the use of sun-powered ion thrusters which the space agency is developing.
Article Appeared @https://www.rt.com/news/406123-nasa-mars-radiation-dna/