ASTRONAUTS could hitch a ride on an asteroid to help them survive the potentially deadly trip to Mars.

Now scientists have identified scores of asteroids that could work as space taxis – shuttling astronauts to the red planet in "fast transfers" across the solar system.

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Nasa is currently working to send astronauts to the Moon – with a planned crewed landing as soon as 2027.

But the eventual goal is to also try to send humans to Mars, which is much more difficult.

Importantly, the journey risks exposing astronauts to deadly radiation.

So scientists at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv say we could use asteroids as shields against radiation.

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"Passive shield is promising and currently the only technologically simple solution to the problem of cosmic radiation," the researchers wrote in the study published in arXiv.

"Since the budget of the mission will greatly increase if passive shielding made of aluminium or other material is included in the structure of the ship, it is worth seriously considering an alternative approach – near-Earth objects."

They scanned over 35,000 of these "near-Earth objects" and found 525 asteroids that were capable of making "fast transfers" between Earth and Venus, Earth and Mars, or Mars and Venus.

The list was trimmed further by checking if spaceships could reasonably catch up to an asteroid.

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And this list of asteroids moving slowly enough be caught up to – and fast enough to make trips in under 180 days – totals 120.

As revealed by University Today, the list of "hitchhike-able" asteroids was:

• Earth to Venus: 44
• Earth to Mars: 17
• Mars to Earth: 13
• Mars to Venus: 2
• Venus to Earth: 38
• Venus to Mars: 6

Using these asteroids could partly solve the very serious issue of space radiation.

"A human mission to Mars means sending astronauts into interplanetary space for a minimum of a year, even with a very short stay on the Red Planet," Nasa's Miles Hatfield explained.

"Nearly all of that time, they will be outside the magnetosphere, exposed to the harsh radiation environment of space.

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"Mars has no global magnetic field to deflect energetic particles, and its atmosphere is much thinner than Earth’s, so they’ll get only minimal protection even on the surface of Mars."

Radiation isn't a huge problem for astronauts on the ISS.

The doses are tracked, and the ISS operates within Earth's magnetosphere – providing some protection.

But Mars is around 140 million miles from Earth, and involves significant unprotected travel in the emptiness of space.

Mars facts

Here's what you need to know about the Red Planet...

• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
• It is named after the Roman god of war
• The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
• Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
• Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
• It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
• So far, there has been 39 missions to Mars but only 16 of these have been successful

This puts astronauts at serious risk of radiation damage.

"The main concern in space is particle radiation," Miles explained.

"Energetic particles can be dangerous to humans because they pass right through the skin, depositing energy and damaging cells or DNA along the way.

"This damage can mean an increased risk for cancer later in life or, at its worst, acute radiation sickness during the mission if the dose of energetic particles is large enough."

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Nasa hasn't announced a strict date for plans to send humans to Mars.

But it's expected that Nasa will make an attempt in the 2030s – although a round trip will take well over a year to complete.