Quote:
|
The plan was to choose a middle-aged couple because their health and fertility would be less affected by the radiation they would be exposed to during such a long space mission.
|
I thought one of the "main" issues with a Mars mission is that the amount of radiation that people would be exposed to on the journey would be a little more severe than just a lowered sperm count. I read that the shielding required would make the craft unrealistically large given current tech.
Of course 500+ days cooped up with a wife/husband, radiation killing them is probably the least likely cause of death. A year and a half of "what's wrong honey?" "NOTHING!!!" ... yeah it'd be murder/suicide.