Inside bizarre plot for astronauts ‘to hitch a ride on asteroid’ to survive killer space radiation on deadly Mars trip
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ASTRONAUTS could hitch a ride on an asteroid to help them survive the potentially deadly trip to Mars. Now scientists have identified scores of asteroids that could work as space taxis – shuttling astronauts to the red planet in "fast transfers" across the solar system.
![[Nasa spacecraft could hitch a ride on asteroids for fast transfers across the solar system – using them as shields against radiation]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/nasa-asteroid-002.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Nasa is currently working to send astronauts to the Moon – with a planned crewed landing as soon as 2027. But the eventual goal is to also try to send humans to Mars, which is much more difficult. Importantly, the journey risks exposing astronauts to deadly radiation.
![[Nasa hopes to eventually send humans to the surface of Mars]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/nasa-mars-001.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
So scientists at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv say we could use asteroids as shields against radiation. "Passive shield is promising and currently the only technologically simple solution to the problem of cosmic radiation," the researchers wrote in the study published in arXiv.
![[Making the trip from Earth to Mars is fraught with risk – including the danger of exposure to deadly radiation]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/nasa-earth-mars.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"Since the budget of the mission will greatly increase if passive shielding made of aluminium or other material is included in the structure of the ship, it is worth seriously considering an alternative approach – near-Earth objects.". They scanned over 35,000 of these "near-Earth objects" and found 525 asteroids that were capable of making "fast transfers" between Earth and Venus, Earth and Mars, or Mars and Venus.
The list was trimmed further by checking if spaceships could reasonably catch up to an asteroid. And this list of asteroids moving slowly enough be caught up to – and fast enough to make trips in under 180 days – totals 120. As revealed by University Today, the list of "hitchhike-able" asteroids was:.
