NASA’s Curiosity rover now en route for an August 2012 landing on the red planet carries a unique Radiation Assessment Detector – or RAD for short.
That device will measure radiation levels at the Martian surface for the first time ever. And in doing so, establish the potential radiation dose for future astronauts and determining the depth below the surface at which living organisms might be able to survive.
The RAD instrument is no bigger than a shoebox; its sensor head was developed and financed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Kiel University. RAD principal investigator is Donald Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
Curiosity will land in Gale Crater. Early scientific looks at the site show that there are minerals in Gale Crater that were probably formed in the presence of liquid water.
Using the radiation level data sent back to Earth by Curiosity, researchers will estimate the exposure levels to which astronauts on Mars could be subjected at ground level due to Mars’ thin atmosphere.
Researchers also hope that this new radiation monitor will help answer another question: To determine the depth below the surface at which earlier life forms may have survived the radiation environment on Mars – or perhaps they survive and thrive even today?
By Leonard David