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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Mutant Diseases May Cripple Missions to Mars, Beyond


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Astronaut Sunita L. Williams works on a device for rapidly detecting biological and chemical substances onboard the International Space Station in March 2007.

Cosmic radiation and prolonged weightlessness can create conditions that encourage the spread of virulent diseases on long space flights, possibly crippling human missions to Mars and beyond, a new study says.

Photograph courtesy NASA