Broadcast 798 (Special Edition)

Dr. Kristin Shrader-Frechette was the guest for this special and important Space Show program. Dr. Shrader-Frechette spoke with us about radiation, career radiation dosages, what this means for spaceflight, even short suborbital spaceflight. She stressed over and over again during this interview that there is no safe limit for ionizing radiation and that even absorbing a small amount of this radiation in a suborbital flight can cause us health issues depending on our own body chemistry, our lifetime radiation dosages and more. As a result of this awareness about radiation, the key will be to make sure those going to space are fully disclosed on all the radiation health risks and that they receive comprehensive informed consent. This is going to be a challenge. Many listeners asked her questions about various types of spaceflight, various types of X-rays for radiation, shielding, the full disclosure process. One listener inquired as to who would have the liability and the responsibility for making the disclosure to spaceflight participants. Other listeners asked about training to educate the rocket builders, space tourism companies, even attorneys and regular doctors as to these issues. You will want to hear her response to these questions. One thing she suggests is keeping track of our lifetime radiation. In fact, if we know the type of X-ray we received and the year, the radiation dose can be fairly accurately calculated. Since we track our vaccinations and other health issues, keeping a record of lifetime radiation exposure is reasonable. As the discussion progressed, we talked about political issues, people challenging the radiation information governmental agencies, the UN and others. We talked about research and peer and grant funding and the political process involved in such funding, both from the perspective of the private sector paying for the research and the government paying for it. Dr. Shrader-Frechette was challenged by some listeners regarding the atomic bomb survivor data from the studies after the war, regarding suborbital radiation dosages, and other methods of tracking, studying, and understanding radiation. We talked about other medical problems resulting from exposure to too much radiation, not just the cancer rates. We also discussed the public policy and ethical aspects of this issue and people that take on behaviors or risks that have an imputed cost in health and medical care that impacts us all. Finally, Dr. Shrader-Frechette brought to our attention specific legislation that she believes will make a difference in many of the areas we discussed on the program. However the many subjects we talked about on today's show, the issue of radiation, lifetime amounts, the fact that there is no safe dosage for ionized radiation, and the fact that shielding equals high mass, it is clear that for future long duration space activities involving humans, radiation will be a serious issue as will full risk disclosure and comprehensive informed consent.