The Earth in Gamma Rays

Check out these pictures of the Earth, as seen by a gamma-ray telescope in orbit. Who says background runs can't be cool? These gamma rays are being produced by cosmic rays whacking into the atmosphere and knocking it to bits (then exciting the bits).
 
By way of comparison, the reactions we study at the NSCL produce gamma rays with energies of a few MeV--the gamma rays mapped in the blue picture are a thousand times more energetic than the ones our detectors here can see.
 
Thank goodness for the atmosphere! All these cosmic rays make it dangerous to spend a long time outside the protection of Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field (long enough, say, to go to Mars). Do you think if I invented a way to shield from high-energy radiation, they'd let me go to another planet? Mars would be cool to visit, and I definitely want to go to the Moon.