Sending people to Mars? Here are some invisible problems you must know

Sending humans to Mars comes with an array of daunting challenges. However, one of the most significant and often overlooked obstacles to human exploration of Mars is the invisible yet dangerous threat of space radiation, which can wreak havoc on the human body. Space radiation: An unseen enemy Decades of research aboard the International Space Station have shown that microgravity impacts human health, leading to muscle atrophy and vision problems. Heading to Mars: Navigating radiation risks NASA’s calculations suggest that longer missions to Mars could expose astronauts to over one sievert of radiation, exceeding the agency's acceptable lifetime exposure limit. Weighing the risks of space exploration NASA enforces strict radiation exposure limits for astronauts, equivalent to a 3–4 per cent excess mortality risk.