NASA has plans to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, but it has to find solutions to problems that could put astronauts' lives in danger, including the risk of getting cancer from radiation, the Mirror reported. The Human Research Program (HPR) of NASA is trying to find methods to change the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) of the astronauts who will go to Mars, to protect them from radiation.

Both China and Russia have plans to land on the Red Planet in next two decades. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has a long-term goal to colonize the solar system, starting with the moon and Mars.

He is expected to conduct a manned mission to Mars by 2024, according to Futurism.

NASA's strategy to save astronauts from Mars' radiation

Acting Chief Technologist at NASA Douglas Terrie suggested an impractical solution to cover the crew member spacesuit with an electromagnetic force field. He further added that NASA is looking to modify Human Genetics with the help of drug therapies, but "they're still in experimental thought stages," according to Mirror.

NASA plans to surround part of the spaceship with a protective shield of water to keep astronauts safe. Terrie said that the US space agency is trying to hand over the control of spaceships to AI (Artificial Intelligence), which could have a capability to diagnose diseases and operate surgery via robots.

In the film "The Martian," director Ridley Scott showed a method which could help scientists to boost the Mars mission. He showed how to colonize the Moon so that a spacecraft could take fuel from there and fly the 100 million-mile trip, Mirror reported.

Major problem with going to outer space

According to researchers, the major problem with going to outer space is the exposure of cosmic rays which poses a high risk of skin cancer.

This radiation does not affect the people on Earth, as our atmosphere absorbs lots of harmful rays. But, when astronauts are at higher radiation exposure, it can hurt their nervous system, cause blood circulation issues and other health problems, BGR reported. NASA is still trying to find a solution to deal with cosmic radiation.

Instead of DNA alteration, other protective measures which scientists should care about are the modifications to spacesuits and spacecraft. Currently, NASA is putting its efforts into exploring more about the Red Planet and plans to launch its next Mars rover by 2020, which will arrive on the planet by February 2021.
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