NASA NIAC Radiation Shielding Materials Containing Hydrogen, Boron, and Nitrogen: Senior research Physicist Sheila Thiebeault presents the research on solving the space radiation challenge for deep space exploration. Space radiations can cause serious damage to human DNA and a variety of long term ailments including cataracts, cancer, and sterility. With current technology, humans cannot travel beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) for more than 100 days and still stay below permissible radiation exposure limits. To solve this problem, scientists at NASA Langley Research Center are looking into different ways to protect astronauts, including the creation of new materials with better radiation shielding capabilities.