A radiation ceiling means that a female can fly only 45-50% of the number of space missions that a male can
LIKE EARTH, space has struggled with equality. When Wally Funk finally made the journey into space aboard Jeff Bezos’s New Shepard flight it was a milestone for female astronauts. As a young aviator she had excelled in her tests as part of the privately funded Women in Space programme. But, despite the competence of the programme’s participants, in 1961 the scheme was cancelled.
Studying the effect of space radiation is hard. NASA has largely based its models on a study that has periodically tracked survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during the second world war. This research found women to be at a higher risk of developing cancer than men when exposed to radiation, partly because they live longer and are more likely to suffer certain cancers, such as those of the breast and thyroid. To limit these dangers NASA imposes a career limit for radiation exposure.
NASA wants to replace this system with a standard career limit of 600 mSv for all of its astronauts, which would bring it in line with most of the other major space agencies. This would make gender less of a factor when deciding who gets picked for a mission. But some older male astronauts could find themselves able to take part in fewer missions. That will affect decisions about who can go to the Moon, which is almost 400,000km away from Earth.
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