Posted on 04/10/2025 7:12:21 PM PDT by Red Badger
Martian dust may be more harmful to astronauts than the trip itself. (Photo by StudyFinds on Shutterstock AI Generator)
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In a nutshell
Martian dust poses serious health risks, especially to astronauts’ lungs, with particles small enough to penetrate deep into the respiratory system and potentially cause irreversible diseases like silicosis and aplastic anemia.
The dust is chemically hazardous, containing reactive compounds like perchlorates, silica, nanophase iron, and trace toxic metals that can disrupt thyroid function, damage tissues, and even increase infection risk due to weakened immune defenses in space.
Prevention is critical, as many dust-related conditions have no cure. Protective technologies like dust-repelling suits, habitat filters, and nutritional countermeasures are essential to keep astronauts safe on a multi-year Mars mission.
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LOS ANGELES — NASA wants to put boots on Mars in the coming decades. But before the first astronauts take that historic step, scientists are warning about an overlooked threat that could derail these ambitious plans: the dust covering the Martian surface.
A new scientific review in the journal GeoHealth warns that the fine particles blanketing Mars might seriously harm human explorers. The medical researchers, aerospace engineers, and planetary scientists from various American universities behind the study draw worrying connections between what happened to Apollo astronauts exposed to lunar dust and what future Mars travelers might experience, potentially with far worse consequences.
According to the authors, Mars dust particles are worryingly small, highly oxidative, and packed with chemicals that could damage the human body, especially the lungs. Unlike Earth dust, which gets worn down by wind and water, Martian particles have remained sharp and irregular, making them perfect for penetrating sensitive tissues.
The Apollo missions offered an early warning about space dust problems. Astronauts who visited the Moon complained about irritated eyes, sore throats, and coughing fits after dust stuck to their spacesuits and contaminated their living spaces. But those missions lasted just days.
Mars expeditions would be different, stretching for months or years with ongoing dust exposure. What’s more, the 40-minute communication delay between Earth and Mars means medical emergencies would need handling without immediate help from mission control. This isolation makes both the chances and consequences of dust-related illnesses much worse.
What Makes Mars Dust Toxic
What exactly makes Mars dust so dangerous? Based on rover and orbiter data, scientists have identified several harmful components. These include perchlorates (oxygen-rich compounds), silica, iron-rich particles, and gypsum, plus smaller amounts of potentially toxic metals including chromium, beryllium, arsenic, and cadmium.
Perchlorates might be the most immediately concerning. These chemicals, found all over Mars, can interfere with thyroid function by competing with iodide, potentially causing aplastic anemia, where the body stops producing enough new blood cells. In one Earth-based case, a patient given high doses of perchlorate developed severe anemia that led to infection susceptibility. Despite treatment with steroids and antibiotics, the patient died from a lung infection.
Nearly half of Mars dust consists of silica, which on Earth is known to cause silicosis, an incurable lung disease that progressively scars lung tissue. The Martian silica particles measure about 3 micrometers across, small enough to bypass the body’s defenses and reach deep into the lungs, where they trigger inflammation and scarring.
The iron compounds that give Mars its reddish color create another health threat. When these particles contact human tissue, they generate reactive oxygen species that damage cells. The excess iron might also make infections worse, as many disease-causing bacteria use iron to multiply inside the human body, particularly troubling since spaceflight already weakens astronauts’ immune systems.
Mars also experiences planet-wide dust storms that dramatically boost airborne particle levels. During these events, visibility drops to almost nothing while dust concentration in the atmosphere rises dramatically. Such conditions would make avoiding exposure nearly impossible during surface operations.
The vast distance from Earth magnifies these health risks. Apollo astronauts could head home quickly if they got sick, but Mars-bound crews would be committed to their mission for its entire duration, potentially two to three years. This reality makes prevention the main strategy, with treatment limited to whatever medications and equipment traveled from Earth.
Better spacesuit designs with self-cleaning abilities, robust air filters in habitats, and electrostatic devices to repel dust should form the first line of defense. For any dust that gets through, dietary supplements like potassium iodide might help protect against perchlorates, while vitamin C could offer some defense against chromium toxicity.
Unfortunately, many potential dust-caused diseases, especially silicosis and other forms of lung scarring, have no effective treatments beyond supportive care. This is why preventing exposure matters so much.
Most of these diseases target the breathing system, potentially causing different types of restrictive lung disease. Combined with the increased radiation during deep space travel and the body changes caused by low gravity, Mars dust could create a perfect storm of health problems.
Planning for Safety: The Road to Mars
As NASA’s Artemis program works to build a lasting human presence on the Moon, these lunar missions will test technologies for Mars trips, including dust protection systems. Additionally, the Mars Sample Return mission, though currently being reevaluated, could bring actual Martian material to Earth labs as early as the mid-to-late 2030s, allowing scientists to study the dust’s properties and toxicity directly.
For now, the authors stress that while human exploration of Mars represents an extraordinary potential achievement, it also brings unprecedented health challenges. Meeting these challenges will require experts across many fields, from geology and engineering to medicine and toxicology, working together to ensure astronauts can explore Mars safely. As we prepare to send people farther from Earth than ever before, addressing these risks is essential for keeping crews alive.
Kinda getting the idea we’re not meant to leave this little blue marble.
Or we need to mitigate it some how...I can invent it..I’ll call it,,, wait,, A Filter!
I Call B.S.
My girlfriend is green and her lungs look fine.😉
When they return from Mars get Fauci to clean their boots.
Doesn’t sound any worse than Gary Indiana in the 70’s.
Hmmmm. There are no green mammals...
Just pick up some cheap Covid era masks at Harbor Freight to wear when they go outside for the fresh air.
I can see sharp, angular and irregular particles on the moon, but Mars has very high winds that must kick up the dust and erode the particles. Of course, the Mars atmospheric density is low and perhaps it doesn't have the power to kick up dust. Mr. Grok confirms that:
Wind Erosion and Aeolian Processes: Mars has an active aeolian (wind-driven) environment, with frequent dust storms, wind gusts, and sand movement. These processes cause particles to collide, abrade, and erode each other. When dust or sand grains are transported by wind, they undergo mechanical weathering—think of it like sandpaper grinding down sharp edges. Over time, this can smooth out angular particles, making them more rounded.Martian Dust Characteristics: Martian dust is primarily composed of fine particles, often basaltic in origin, with sizes ranging from a few micrometers to tens of micrometers. Freshly formed dust (e.g., from volcanic activity, impacts, or frost weathering) tends to be angular and sharp due to its crystalline structure or fracturing processes. However, as these particles are swept up in wind events, repeated collisions and abrasion can chip away at sharp edges, reducing angularity.
Factors Influencing Rounding:
Particle Size: Smaller dust particles are more likely to be carried in suspension during storms, leading to frequent collisions that promote rounding. Larger grains (like sand) may saltate (bounce along the surface), which also causes abrasion but at a different rate.Wind Intensity: Stronger winds, common during global dust storms, increase particle interactions, accelerating the smoothing process.
Composition: Martian dust often contains minerals like olivine, pyroxene, or iron oxides. Softer or less durable minerals may round faster than harder ones.
Time Scale: Significant rounding requires long periods. While Mars’ thin atmosphere (about 1% of Earth’s pressure) means slower erosion compared to Earth, the planet’s long history of aeolian activity (billions of years) provides ample time for particle modification.
He never said that she was.
excursion suits, vehicles and structures will all be positive atmosphere so it should be manageable, no?
It can’t be any worse than places like LA where every morning about two hundred thousand leaf blowers are fired up and proceed to blow everything that ever touched the ground into the surrounding atmosphere. Smog was replaced with fine particles of toxic dust, such as dog poop, insecticides, urine, vomit, and other cooties emanating from humans, rodents, little hoggers etc.
Dust can be in no matter how much filtering you use...........
I remember my first day in L.A. in the Marines headed for 29 Palms MCB.
I got on the bus headed for Palm Springs And sat up front a was talking to the driver.
I looked out and said it sure is a foggy day today! He laughed and said that’s not fog, that’s SMOG!!!!.........
We need to find an Earth-sized planet orbiting a Sun-sized star, not in a binary star system, and with a Moon-sized moon orbiting the planet to produce Earth-like tides in Earth-like oceans, and that has an Earth-like axis tilt to give seasons. And the planet needs an Earth-like core generating a Earth-like magnetic field as a cosmic ray shield as well as Earthlike plate tectonics. And don’t forget an Earth-like N2-O2 atmosphere with traces of CO2 and the inert gases.
Oh, yeah, the Earth-sized planet should not already have extraterrestrial inhabitants.
Sounds like hog dust in confinement buildings.
We all survived that
He should at least stay in the mammal class or worst case, the chordata phylum....
“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids...”
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