RADIATION PROTECTION IN-SPACE

The challenge for planning radiation protection in space is to estimat e the risk of events of low probability after low levels of irradiatio n. This work has revealed many gaps in our knowledge that require furt her study. Despite investigations of several irradiated populations, t he atomic-bomb survivors remain the primary basis for estimating the r isk of ionizing radiation. Compared with previous estimates, two new i ndependent evaluations of available information indicate a significant ly greater risk of stochastic effects of radiation (cancer and genetic effects) by about a factor of three for radiation workers, including space travelers. This paper presents a brief historical perspective of the international effort to assure radiation protection in space.