Tools aboard NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover show that radiation levels on the red planet's surface are relatively low, sustaining a habitable environment for future astronauts.
"Absolutely, astronauts can live in this environment," said the Southwest Research Institute's Don Hassler. "We're working on [the specific radiation level report], and we're hoping to release that at the American Geophysical Union's meeting in December. Basically, there's calibrations and characterizations that we're finalizing to get those numbers precise."
NASA used the rover's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument to gather information about Mars' atmosphere.
Claire Newman of Ashima Research explains, "If we can find out more about the weather and climate on present-day Mars, then that really helps us to improve our understanding of mars' atmospheric processes. That gives us much more confidence when we try to predict things like what Mars may have looked like in the past."
She adds that Gale Crater, a key point of interest for Curiosity, "is a very interesting place for winds."
NBC News reports that the planet's radiation levels range between 3 to 5 percent each day, dependent on the "thickening and thinning of the Martian atmosphere," and that these conditions are similar to "low-Earth orbit."
Hassler clarifies that "It's never really been a question of if we can go to Mars, it's a matter of when we go, how do we best protect our astronauts.
Curiosity's ultimate destination is Glenelg, which marks an intersection of three different types of terrain, according to NASA.
More Curiosity updates to follow as they become available.