Tags: Radiation, NASA, NOAA
Publication: NBCNews.com
Publication Date: 10/24/2012

Charged particles ejected from the sun can create a dangerous environment for astronauts in space. Image credit: NASA

Astronauts’ work is usually affected by the ever-changing radiation levels in space, on high episodes they have to take shield, which hinders their activities until the levels are back to a safe point. Scientists have now developed a program using space-based telescopes to further study and understand radiation around Earth, the moon and Mars in near-real time to identify time-dependent radiation exposure in space.

PREDICCS, as the project has been named, uses data from NOAA’s GOES satellite and NASA’s SOHO, STEREO, SAMPEX, ACE and Wind. After collecting measurements from different locations, the program simulates the levels of radiation and compares them with other instruments to predict radiation doses.

The program is still in its early stages. Right now, it can only simulate the levels of radiation in the current time, but can’t forecast future spikes of radiation levels, for example. However, scientists are not ruling that out as a possible feature of PREDICCS.

 Full story