Two NASA spacecraft will pay special attention to increasing levels of radiation that bombard Mars during this year's approaching solar maximum, to better prepare astronauts for future missions to the Red Planet.
Every 11 years or so, the sun experiences a peak in activity known as solar maximum, due to its strong and constantly shifting magnetic fields. During this period of the solar cycle, the frequency and intensity of sunspots on the solar surface increases, generating solar flares and coronal mass ejections that send powerful streams of solar radiation out into deep space.
