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And to add insult to injury, it can't even make its own money because again, it can't keep its patent revenue or sell commercial products. Even so, despite everything, NASA has still managed to develop new technologies in recent years.
Researchers are reviving an old but wild idea to protect astronauts from space radiation.
June 24, 2005: Opposite charges attract. Like charges repel. It's the first lesson of electromagnetism and, someday, it could save the lives of astronauts.
NASA's Vision for Space Exploration calls for a return to the Moon as preparation for even longer journeys to Mars and beyond. But there's a potential showstopper: radiation.
Space beyond low-Earth orbit is awash with intense radiation from the Sun and from deep galactic sources such as supernovas. Astronauts en route to the Moon and Mars are going to be exposed to this radiation, increasing their risk of getting cancer and other maladies. Finding a good shield is important. ...
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/24jun_electrostatics/
How is this a step backwards? Several astronauts on the Apollo program have died from cancer. That was a short-term mission. A long-term mission to the Moon or Mars is a one-way ticket to malignant tumors and empty hair follicles. Why wouldn't they want to research into how to prevent this?
Well, they can´t claim to have been unaware of space radiation and its harmful effects 45 years ago, right? Has it been proven that those astronauts died from a cancer linked to that radiation?
If they had been on a length months/years long mission to Mars or spent that amount of time on the Moon, they'd've probably died.