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As Artemis II – NASA’s mission that will send four astronauts to orbit the moon as soon as next year – approaches, a new study shows how the Orion spacecraft will protect the crew.
The findings are based on data from Artemis I, traveling 25 days around the moon and returning in late 2022. The mission’s Orion capsule, which follows the same trajectory as Artemis II will, was not carried but carried. nonhuman special guests.
Two of them, mannequin torsos called Helga and Zohar, ride together as a test of how much radiation astronauts can experience when they try to go to the moon. The mannequin is made of materials that mimic human soft tissue, organs and bones and, like the spacecraft, includes detectors to track radiation exposure along the way.
Now, scientists have published the first results after studying the detector data, published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The findings show that the shielding technology used on the spacecraft was effective in reducing the radiation experienced on the journey.
“The Artemis I mission marks an important step in improving our understanding of how space radiation affects the safety of future manned missions to the Moon,” Sergi Vaquer Araujo, head of the space medicine team at the European Space Agency, said in a statement.
Araujo did not participate in the study. But the European Space Agency contributed five mobile dosimeters to measure radiation throughout the Orion spacecraft.
“We are gaining valuable insights about how space radiation interacts with the spacecraft’s shielding, the type of radiation that penetrates the human body, and which area in Orion offers the most protection,” Araujo said.
Radiation is a concern
NASA has been studying the effects of space radiation on human health for decades, since the first manned space missions in the 1960s. Data is also collected regularly from astronauts who spend six months to a year on the International Space Station.
The station remains in low Earth orbit, meaning it is partially protected by the Earth’s magnetic field, as well as a heavy shield incorporated into the design of the orbiting laboratory. Earth’s magnetic field also prevents cosmic rays from reaching astronauts.
But for future missions into deep space, astronauts will stray far from the protection of Earth and will have to rely on well-protected spacecraft and space suits.
Long space missions to the moon and Mars will expose astronauts to radiation from cosmic rays, or high-energy particles moving through space. To reach space, astronauts must also pass through Earth’s Van Allen Belts, two bands of radiation that circle our planet like a giant doughnut, according to NASA.
Sensors mounted on the Orion capsule captured continuous radiation data as it traveled from Earth to the moon and back for the first time, researchers said. While there was some data from the Apollo missions, it was not collected continuously.
The sensors show that radiation exposure on Orion varies depending on the location of the detectors, according to the study authors.
Cosmic storm shelter
As Orion passes through the Van Allen Belt, the data shows the most protected areas, such as the capsule’s “storm shelter,” provide four times more protection than the least protected areas. The researchers determined that the radiation exposure in space remained at a safe level for the astronauts to avoid acute radiation sickness.
“Storm shelters are tight spaces used to store crew supplies,” study lead author Stuart George, a scientist in the Space Radiation Analysis Group at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in an email. “We found that the storm shelter is the most protected area in the vehicle, which is great because it’s designed that way!”
Passing through the Van Allen Belt is considered the equivalent of a crew encountering a space weather event.
As the sun approaches its solar maximum – the peak of its 11-year cycle, expected this year – it becomes more active, releasing powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Coronal mass ejections are large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields released from the sun’s outer atmosphere.
When the blast is directed towards Earth, it can damage spacecraft, satellites, space stations and even underground power grids.
“This helps us validate our shelter design to protect the crew from energetic solar particle events caused by space weather,” George said.
Cosmic ray exposure, which can cause the majority of radiation astronauts may experience on long-duration space flights, was 60% lower on Artemis I than experienced by previous missions, including robotic missions to Mars, George said.
The team also noted a surprise in the findings. As Orion passes through the Van Allen Belt, the spacecraft performs a flip to fire its thrusters, ensuring it is on the correct trajectory. During the flip, the level of radiation in the capsule dropped by 50% because the maneuver placed more of Orion’s shielding in the path of radiation, George said.
Measurements taken during Artemis I could inform the design of future human spaceflight missions, the study authors said.
Planning for Artemis II
If a solar storm occurs while the Artemis astronauts are in space, it could last for days.
The storm shelter concept has changed for Artemis II because the smaller shelter on board Artemis I may not be large enough for the crew to carry out normal operations if they have to remain there for long periods of time during solar storms, also known as solar storms. particle event.
“On Artemis II, the crew will (bungee) tie the supplies to the wall at least protected from the Orion spacecraft,” George said via email.
“This means that during an energetic solar particle event, the crew will be able to use more of the cabin while still being protected from radiation. It will be very interesting to test this in space, with the crew in the loop.
The core stage for the powerful Artemis II rocket arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this summer, and assembly is underway for the Artemis III rocket. Artemis III – scheduled for 2026 – aims to land women and people of color on the moon’s south pole for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Artemis II crew, including NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have been conducting field training in Iceland. Although it will not land, the crew will travel 4,600 miles (7,402 kilometers) beyond the far side of the moon to take pictures of crater-like lunar surface features from orbit.
“Having humans hold a camera on a lunar rover and describe what they see in a language scientists can understand is a boon to science,” said Kelsey Young, lunar science lead for Artemis II and science officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. in the statement.
“For the most part, this is what we train our astronauts for when we take them to a Moon-like environment on Earth.”
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