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Airline crews flying long-distance high-altitude routes can be exposed to 2.2 mSv of extra radiation each year due to cosmic rays, nearly doubling their total exposure to ionizing radiation. Average annual radiation exposure ( millisieverts )
There are three fundamental ways to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation: [32] increasing the distance from the radiation source; reducing the exposure time; shielding (i.e.: a physical barrier) Shielding is a plausible option, but due to current launch mass restrictions, it is prohibitively costly.
Flying 12 km (39,000 ft) high, passengers and crews of jet airliners are exposed to at least 10 times the cosmic ray dose that people at sea level receive. Every few years, a geomagnetic storm permits a solar particle event to penetrate down to jetliner altitudes. Aircraft flying polar routes near the geomagnetic poles are at particular risk.
Hypotheses include Cherenkov radiation created as the cosmic ray particles pass through the vitreous humour of the astronauts' eyes, [4] [5] direct interaction with the optic nerve, [4] direct interaction with visual centres in the brain, [6] retinal receptor stimulation, [7] and a more general interaction of the retina with radiation. [8]
Radiation has also recently been linked to a higher incidence of cataracts in astronauts. Outside the protection of low Earth orbit, galactic cosmic rays present further challenges to human spaceflight, [45] as the health threat from cosmic rays significantly increases the chances of cancer over a decade or more of exposure. [46]
Animal behavior studies indicate that high-HZE radiation has a high RBE, but the data are not consistent. Other uncertainties include: age at exposure, radiation quality, and dose-rate effects, as well as issues regarding genetic susceptibility to CNS risk from space radiation exposure. More research is required before CNS risk can be estimated.
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Exposure to radiation causes chemical changes in gases. The least susceptible to damage are noble gases, where the major concern is the nuclear transmutation with follow-up chemical reactions of the nuclear reaction products. High-intensity ionizing radiation in air can produce a visible ionized air glow of telltale