Health, Medicine and Crew Time
How long can people safely stay on the Moon, and how much of their time can go to useful work?
Chapter summary
Radiation sets the hard limit.
Key takeaways
- 1
With NASA's career limit of 600 millisieverts and surface doses of roughly 0.3–0.4 sieverts a year without shielding, an unshielded astronaut would reach the limit in under two years; under a metre or more of regolith, stays of a year or more become possible.
- 2
Partial gravity (a sixth of Earth's) is less damaging than weightlessness, but its long-term effects on bone, muscle and circulation are unknown.
- 3
Medical emergencies are the other constraint: Earth is three days away, so a base needs on-site medical capability.
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