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Martian Radiation Environment Experiment - MARIE
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As NASA considers the possibility of sending manned spaceflight
missions to Mars, radiation protection for crew members remains
one of the key technological issues which must be resolved.
Before this problem can be solved, it is important to understand
and characterize the radiation environment not only near Mars
and on its surface but also in the interplanetary space between
the Earth and Mars.
The Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) was designed
for that purpose. It is a payload on the 2001 Mars Odyssey
Orbiter, which was launched on April 7, 2001 and was captured
in Mars orbit on October 24, 2001. The instrument measures
doses from two sources of space radiation which are harmful
to humans - galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar energetic
particles (SEP). MARIE provided data during the curise from
the Earth to Mars, and it continues to provide data now that
the spacecraft is in orbit at Mars.
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