What are the mysterious rays from the space?

 What are Cosmic Rays and what can they do?

Space is a mysterious place full of threats that we can’t even see. Earth protects us from all of these harmful threats, its atmosphere prevents any harmful rays from getting to us and even regulates the climate. However, what about other planets where there are no such things providing a safe guard.
What about mars?

Mars is a scary place:

(Mars- The Martian)

Mars, sometimes also referred to as ‘the red planet’ can be a dangerous place for humans. Constant threats can endanger one’s life. There can be constant threats from the sky or from the surface of the planet. The Martian directed by Ridley Scott, does an incredible job in showcasing a planet that is both mesmerizing but also deadly and unforgiving.

The Martian:

The Martian stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut and a botanist. Mark gets stranded on the planet Mars and gets separated from his crew due to a dust storm. Now Mark

Must survive on a planet alone until the crew gets back which won’t be any time soon.

Picture owned by 20th Century Studios.

Threats on the red planet:

Mars is a hostile place with no breathable environment. Lack of oxygen is one of the biggest threats to our protagonist Mark Watney, however, him being an astronaut has that covered with enough supply of oxygen that would last him for a long time.

 

Mark Watney wearing a special suit to breathe in the Mars atmosphere.

Some of the threats do not necessarily come from outer space, some risks are caused by humans, as well. When groups of people are confined in a small space for a long time, behavioral issues are inevitable, said NASA's Human Research Program. (Brabaw,2019) However, to tackle this problem astronauts are carefully selected and trained to survive together. In our case Mark Watney is stuck alone so he keeps himself busy surviving long enough as to not affect his mental health all that much.

However, some of the biggest threats that an astronaut can be exposed to is one that can’t even be seen by the naked human eye and one of the things that science necessarily is unable to understand. These are the cosmic rays that can be deadly if an astronaut is exposed to them for a long time.

Earth’s atmosphere breaks down these cosmic rays.

What are these mysterious rays and the dangers they pose?

These rays are sometimes mysterious in origin. We know that some of these can come from exploding stars millions of lightyears away or from solar flares of our own Sun. However, some of these are harder to track back and they're just theories as to the origin of these rays.

The radiation environment of deep space is different from that on the Earth's surface or in low Earth orbit, as the energy is high in these particles and there is know atmospheric shield that may be able to break these rays or magnetic field to deflect them. These rays are radioactive in nature and act like the gamma rays or X-rays.

These rays can be very dangerous for an astronaut and long term exposures can make one sick. These missions to deep space are planned for a shorter period of time where the astronaut can only be allowed out on the surface for a shorter period of time, however, Mark Watney is stranded on the planet and has no choice but to consume much of this radiation.

Can these rays be deadly?

These radiations can cause the DNA in our body to break and the body may try to repair it. However, repairing these broken DNA strands can be a tedious task and requires a lot of precision and even a single mistakenly formed DNA strand can cause mutations which can give birth to cells that can be a danger to our immune system and can cause cancer in our body. (NASA) . A 2017 laboratory study on mice, estimates that the risk of developing cancer due to radiation exposure after a Mars mission could be two times greater than what scientists previously thought.(Contributors to Wikimedia projects)

 These rays can also damage a person's central nervous system, they can cause severe behavioral changes taking an emotional toll on the astronauts mental health, these rays can also result in reduced motor function which may cause one to feel slow and tired all day, NASA's Human Research Program said. Other dangers of being exposed to such high radiation include nausea, vomiting, anorexia, fatigue, cataracts, cardiac disease and circulatory disease. (Brabaw,2019)

These negative health effects can be clearly seen on Mark Watney’s body. His body lost most of the muscles and he can be seen weak and tired by the end. His diet could also contribute to this but the long exposure to radiation may have also contributed to it.

Mark Watney’s body changes overtime.

Citation:

Brabaw, Kasandra. “From Radiation to Isolation: 5 Big Risks for Mars Astronauts (Videos) | Space.” Space.Com, Space, 7 Jan. 2019, https://www.space.com/42918-big-space-risks-mars-astronauts-videos.html.

Contributors to Wikimedia projects. “Health Threat from Cosmic Rays - Wikipedia.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 25 Nov. 2007, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_threat_from_cosmic_rays.

“Space Radiation Is Risky Business for the Human Body.” NASA, YouTube, 19 Sept. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uujpLFMCp-A.