What radiation doses would astronauts of an Apollo mission receive during solar flares?
During the past 30 years, several committees of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements have evaluated the potential health-related effects which would be caused if a significant solar particle “storm” should occur during various activities performed by astronauts, including lunar or Mars missions. In a report issued in 1989, the NCRP estimated that if a major solar particle event occurred during a visit to the moon, it could give the astronauts doses to their skin of 6 sieverts (600 rem; both sievert and rem are units of radiation dose and sievert is commonly abbreviated Sv) with bone marrow doses of close to 0.9 Sv (90 rem). This amount of radiation exposure would not be life threatening. Actual radiation dose measurements of Apollo crews measured by onboard dosimetry were, on average, 12 mSv.
