In a recent study to be published in Space Physics, an international team of researchers discuss an in-depth study examining the long-term physiological effects of solar radiation on astronauts with emphasis on future astronauts traveling to Mars to include steps we can take to help mitigate the risk of such solar radiation exposure. The researchers hailed from the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, India, United States, Italy, Greece, and Germany, and their study helps us better understand the in-depth, long-term health impacts of astronauts during long-term space missions, specifically to Mars and beyond.

"Exposure to ionizing radiation is one of the main health risks to astronauts in crewed missions to Mars," said Dr. Dimitra Atri, a Research Scientist at New York University Abu Dhabi, and lead author of the study. "Going to Mars is going to be humanity's ultimate adventure in the 21st century—it would be unfortunate if the mission is successful, but astronauts suffer major health issues or even die because of radiation exposure.

Finding water on the moon could be easier with a Goddard technology that uses an effect called quantum tunneling to generate a high-powered terahertz laser, filling a gap in existing laser technology.

Locating water and other resources is a NASA priority crucial to exploring Earth's natural satellite and other objects in the solar system and beyond. Previous experiments inferred, then confirmed the existence of small amounts of water across the moon. However, most technologies do not distinguish among water, free hydrogen ions, and hydroxyl, as the broadband detectors used cannot distinguish between the different volatiles.