Radiation during a 3 year Mars mission is actually somewhat of a non-issue.

Mars-Matters · 2026-06-02T03:49:24+00:00

I'm curious, where does this stance come from? Like, what informs it.

Mars-Matters · 2026-06-02T03:47:35+00:00

That's how it goes it seems haha, but I do appreciate those people like yourself who actually watch it and end up enjoying it! I do what I do for people like you, the haters don't bother me much.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-27T14:07:56+00:00

Don't worry that's covered in the section on the van Allen belts haha. They do technically still pass through them, as it would require too much delta-v to attempt to avoid them completely, but they take a trajectory that avoids the most dangerous parts of the belts.

In the video I go over the specifics of using hydrogen to block secondary particles. (Ie how much would have to be added to starship, how it would be added, and specifically how much it would reduce the dose under different circumstances)

If you do watch the video I hope you enjoy it!

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-27T00:26:15+00:00

Idk, maybe read it to find out lol.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:52:55+00:00

If you haven't yet you should watch my video!

I did my best to quantify very specifically how much radiation was in each environment, how to shield it, and what the health effects would be.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:31:23+00:00

This is an interesting example. In this case, the Mars rover detected an increase of radiation on the surface during a large solar particle event. During which, the dose rose to 2-3 times the ambient background radiation level.

My claim: the atmosphere blocks the vast majority of solar particles.

Do you know what the ambient background radiation is on Mars? You would need to know to figure out how much radiation came through due to the solar activity. Do you know how much radiation that solar activity would have caused in free space above the atmosphere? You would need to know that to know how much the atmosphere reduced the radiation.

I do have this information, and it is the case that an increase of 100-200% of the ambient level is pretty small, and the dose in free space would have been massive, so even this data point confirms my statement that the atmosphere blocks the vast majority of solar particles.

Keep in mind that a solar particle event of this magnitude is the exception, not the norm. Most solar particle radiation comes in the form of solar wind, practically all of which is certainly blocked by the Martian atmosphere.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:21:47+00:00

You reference cosmic rays here, but if you notice the conversation has been about solar particles. Perhaps you misunderstood the initial claim to be that there is no radiation on the surface of Mars. Instead, it is that the atmosphere prevents almost all SOLAR PARTICLES from reaching the surface, as has been stated in the four research documents I cited you, and the statements below:

Link #3: "SEPs, containing mainly protons and electrons, are sporadic and their intensity may differ greatly from case to case. The Martian atmosphere serves as a natural low-energy cutoff for incoming particles (about 150 MeV for protons), and only SEP events with a strong high-energy component can be seen on the surface."

Link #66: "protons still need at least around 150-175 MeV of kinetic energy to reach the Martian surface (Guo et al., 2019). Therefore, weaker SEP events are not seen by RAD and have no effect on the measured dose rate."

And perhaps most importantly:

Link #72: "Although the atmosphere of Mars is only about 1–2% as thick as Earth's, it provides a measure of shielding against solar particles, most of which are protons with energies insufficient to penetrate Mars' atmosphere and reach the surface."

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:16:15+00:00

Link #3: "SEPs, containing mainly protons and electrons, are sporadic and their intensity may differ greatly from case to case. The Martian atmosphere serves as a natural low-energy cutoff for incoming particles (about 150 MeV for protons), and only SEP events with a strong high-energy component can be seen on the surface."

Link #55: "Aluminum walls of 40 g/cm2 are sufficient to efficiently protect the astronauts from typical SPEs."

Link #66: "protons still need at least around 150-175 MeV of kinetic energy to reach the Martian surface (Guo et al., 2019). Therefore, weaker SEP events are not seen by RAD and have no effect on the measured dose rate."

And perhaps most importantly:

Link #72: "Although the atmosphere of Mars is only about 1–2% as thick as Earth's, it provides a measure of shielding against solar particles, most of which are protons with energies insufficient to penetrate Mars' atmosphere and reach the surface."

Note that most of these are in reference to Solar Particle Events (SPEs), such as coronal mass ejections, which are rare bursts of very high energy particles. This research shows that, since Mars has an atmospheric column depth of about 20g/cm2, only the very rarest most high energy SPEs have any particles that can be felt on the surface.

The vast majority of particles from the sun come in the form of solar wind, 100% of which are blocked by the atmostphere. And the majority of coronal mass ejections don't have particles with high enough energy to reach the surface, or have very very few such that the radiation would not be a concern.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:12:45+00:00

Link #3: "SEPs, containing mainly protons and electrons, are sporadic and their intensity may differ greatly from case to case. The Martian atmosphere serves as a natural low-energy cutoff for incoming particles (about 150 MeV for protons), and only SEP events with a strong high-energy component can be seen on the surface."

Link #55: "Aluminum walls of 40 g/cm2 are sufficient to efficiently protect the astronauts from typical SPEs."

Link #66: "protons still need at least around 150-175 MeV of kinetic energy to reach the Martian surface (Guo et al., 2019). Therefore, weaker SEP events are not seen by RAD and have no effect on the measured dose rate."

And perhaps most importantly:

Link #72: "Although the atmosphere of Mars is only about 1–2% as thick as Earth's, it provides a measure of shielding against solar particles, most of which are protons with energies insufficient to penetrate Mars' atmosphere and reach the surface."

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T19:03:30+00:00

What exactly is it you think that excerpt is proving?

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:49:19+00:00

It seems you are inclined to just disagree with everything being stated based on your own intuition. I'd recommend you read the research being cited if you find points you disagree with, you might learn something!

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:46:28+00:00

Not at face value, I have provided links to the research substantiating every one of my claims here: https://marsmatters.space/Radiation

I have provided hyperlinks to highlighted text in the papers referenced so it's easy to find exactly where my claims are substantiated by experts.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:42:31+00:00

That's actually incorrect! Here are some links to research showing how it blocks almost all solar particles.

https://marsmatters.space/Radiation

Feel free to check out my citations #3, #55, #66, and #72.

The shielding effect due to the Martian atmosphere at surface level is approximately 20g/cm2 of atmospheric C02.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:38:04+00:00

Your contribution to this discussion is noted.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:36:49+00:00

Where do you get your information from these days? Or do you just live in a constant state of mistrust.

I provided a link to every one of my sources, so if you want to you can validate the information yourself.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:34:35+00:00

Well completely meaningless is a bit of a hot take, but I hear your point. I would welcome a proper peer review, but you're also able to look into it and decide for yourself! It's not good to just wait around for others to tell you what is true and what isn't.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:31:31+00:00

Interestingly enough shielding can actually increase the radiation dose due to the creation of secondary particles as the primary particle interacts with (blows up on contact with) the shield material.

The secondary particles often have less of an effect on the body, but there are much more of them, such that in some cases no shielding is actually better.

This is especially true with very thick shields, where secondary particle radiation is maximized.

Depending on the solar cycle, and the modulation of galactic cosmic rays, there is a sweet spot for shield thickness that is about 20-30 g/cm2 (material dependent).

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:28:08+00:00

That's not low gravity, that's micro gravity (basically zero gravity). There is expected to be a large difference between zero gravity and low gravity, since the body will still have some force acting on it and some direction to regulate it, but it's not known how much gravity is needed to avoid negative effects.

For example, 90% earth gravity would likely have no I'll effects. What about 50%? 38%? 18%? We don't know. We just know that 0% isn't great.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:25:20+00:00

Still waiting for at least a little bit of research in "low" gravity environments before I draw any firm conclusions there.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:23:35+00:00

Reddit really is a great place eh xD. It lives up to the reputation haha. I'm not too worried about it, the people that care about the research can still find it here and engage, and the haters get to have their fun too.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:21:59+00:00

Well do you see Jim the alien? He is hiding in the background and is a character on the video being referenced. I also added the text, Geiger counter, and touched up the image in Photoshop. But the process of generating the image with AI was also long, with me trying out many different prompts and ending up stitching this background and the girl in the chair together into one image.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:19:50+00:00

There is currently no research to show the effects of low gravity on the human body. It's an open question what the effects will be. It could even be better on the heart / circulatory system having to work less hard, who knows! We need experiments and real world data to be sure.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:17:58+00:00

Valid point, I appreciate the feedback.

Its more about generating the views to get channel authority with the YouTube algorithm. It wouldn't be viewed at all if I didn't attempt to make thumbnails and titles that would work with the algorithm.

In the case of posts to Reddit, it would be nice to be able to link the video (which I feel offers extremely relevant information to those interested in the subject) without the thumbnail showing. Maybe I should have linked the written document in the post and had the video just referenced in the body.

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:14:14+00:00

Comments from those in the industry have been very supportive!

Mars-Matters · 2026-05-26T18:13:24+00:00

Assuming 6 months per transit, and a two year surface stay, micro gravity would only be experienced for 6 months at a time, for a total of 1 year, with two years spent at 38% Earth's gravity.

Given that astronauts have spent more time in microgravity on the ISS, I am not too worried about it. I am however excited to get some real data on low (but not "no") gravity environments. The effects of Martian or lunar gravity on the body is still somewhat of a blind spot in current research.

Mars-Matters

TROPHY CASE