Editing Cosmic ray (section)

===Significance to aerospace travel===
{{Main|Health threat from cosmic rays}}
Galactic cosmic rays are one of the most important barriers standing in the way of plans for interplanetary travel by crewed spacecraft. Cosmic rays also pose a threat to electronics placed aboard outgoing probes. In 2010, a malfunction aboard the ''[[Voyager 2]]'' space probe was credited to a single [[Single-event upset|flipped bit]], probably caused by a cosmic ray. Strategies such as physical or magnetic shielding for spacecraft have been considered in order to minimize the damage to electronics and human beings caused by cosmic rays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/75SummerStudy/5appendE.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531210412/http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/75SummerStudy/5appendE.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 May 2010|title=Appendix E: Mass Shielding|publisher=NASA|work=Space Settlements: A Design Study|date=10 July 2002|access-date=24 February 2013|author=Globus, Al}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/308/1|title=Magnetic shielding for spacecraft|work=The Space Review|date=24 January 2005|access-date=24 February 2013|author=Atkinson, Nancy}}</ref>

On 31 May 2013, NASA scientists reported that a possible [[Human mission to Mars|crewed mission to Mars]] may involve a greater radiation risk than previously believed, based on the amount of [[radiation|energetic particle radiation]] detected by the [[Radiation assessment detector|RAD]] on the [[Mars Science Laboratory]] while traveling from the [[Earth]] to [[Mars]] in 2011–2012.<ref name=SCI-20130531a/><ref name=SCI-20130531b/><ref name=NYT-20130530/>

[[File:PIA17601-Comparisons-RadiationExposure-MarsTrip-20131209.png|thumb|upright=1.1|left|Comparison of radiation doses, including the amount detected on the trip from Earth to Mars by the [[radiation assessment detector|RAD]] on the [[Mars Science Laboratory|MSL]] (2011–2013).<ref name="SCI-20130531a">{{cite journal|last=Kerr|first=Richard|title=Radiation Will Make Astronauts' Trip to Mars Even Riskier|date=31 May 2013|journal=Science|volume=340|page=1031|doi=10.1126/science.340.6136.1031|issue=6136|pmid=23723213|bibcode=2013Sci...340.1031K}}</ref><ref name="SCI-20130531b">{{cite journal|title=Measurements of Energetic Particle Radiation in Transit to Mars on the Mars Science Laboratory|journal=Science|date=31 May 2013|volume=340|pages=1080–1084|doi=10.1126/science.1235989|pmid=23723233|author=Zeitlin, C.|issue=6136|last2=Hassler|first2=D. M.|last3=Cucinotta |first3=F. A.|last4=Ehresmann|first4=B.|last5=Wimmer-Schweingruber|first5=R.F.|last6=Brinza|first6=D. E.|last7=Kang|first7=S.|last8=Weigle|first8=G.|last9=Bottcher|first9=S.|display-authors=8|bibcode=2013Sci...340.1080Z|s2cid=604569}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20130530">{{cite news|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|title=Data Point to Radiation Risk for Travelers to Mars|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/science/space/data-show-higher-cancer-risk-for-mars-astronauts.html|date=30 May 2013|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=31 May 2013}}</ref>]]

Flying {{convert|12|km|ft|}} high, passengers and crews of [[jet airliner]]s are exposed to at least 10 times the cosmic ray dose that people at [[sea level]] receive. Aircraft flying [[polar route]]s near the [[geomagnetic pole]]s are at particular risk.<ref>{{cite web|last=Phillips|first=Tony|title=The Effects of Space Weather on Aviation|work=Science News|publisher=NASA|date=25 October 2013|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/25oct_aviationswx/|access-date=12 July 2017|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928003535/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/25oct_aviationswx/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|bAKdaYumlq4|"Converting Cosmic Rays to Sound During a Transatlantic Flight to Zurich"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sol.spacenvironment.net/raps_ops/current_files/globeView.html|title=NAIRAS Real-time radiation Dose|website=sol.spacenvironment.net}}</ref>