NASA is just hours away from launching Artemis 2, the first mission to land humans on the moon in more than half a century.
About 10 days flight – expected to raise today (April 1) from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 6:24 pm EDT (2224 GMT) – will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion spacecraft to the moon. If all goes to plan, the crew will circle the moon and return to Earth in a free orbit, reaching 4,700 kilometers (7,560 kilometers) beyond the far side of the moon – more than Apollo 8’s. the history of the flying moon and the farthest journey ever made by humans.
Here’s a look at the science behind Artemis 2, and how it could affect future lunar landings and, ultimately, crewing Mars.
Bone marrow studies focus on astronaut health risks
Among the experiments in Artemis 2 is a small but complex project known as AVATARshort for “Astronaut Tissue Analog Response.” The experiment uses lab-grown tissue models – each about the size of a flash drive – with living human cells designed to act like real organs.
Avatar is designed to target bone marrow cells grown from cells obtained through blood donations from astronauts, according to NASA. Bone marrow produces blood and immune cells and is particularly sensitive to radiation, which makes it an important target for assessing health risks during extraterrestrial missions.
Once the mission is complete, researchers plan to analyze the body samples at the molecular level to assess how thousands of genes responded to the flight. To find out if organ chips can predict human responses to atmospheric pressure, scientists will compare the results with data from the International Space Station (ISS), as well as biological samples collected from the crew before and after the flight, according to NASA.
Previous studies of the space station, partially shielded by the Earth’s gravity, have shown that astronomers. experience bone loss even in the short term, highlighting the major risks expected in the future of deep space travel. The findings could help guide individual health strategies for astronauts on future long-duration missions, NASA said.
A serious stress test
Another important test is Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness, or ARCHERwill explore how scientists cope with life inside the apartment-sized Orion spacecraft.
Staff members will wear wearable devices that monitor levels of stress, movement, sleep and cognitive function. The researchers hope that the real-time data will help them analyze how daily activity, rest and confinement affect the health and cooperation of the group in the deep, according to NASA.
Another study will focus on the immune system. During the mission, astronauts will collect saliva samples by wiping them on special paper stored in small notebooks, a simple method necessary because Orion lacks a refrigerator, NASA said.
Comparing samples collected before and after the flight, saliva and blood data will allow researchers to follow physical changes associated with stress such as radiation and isolation. Scientists also plan to monitor inactive viruses that may reactivate during flight, including those associated with chickenpox and shingles, a reaction that has been seen aboard the ISS.
Crew health care is planned for months before launch and after landing, NASA said. Astronauts will perform balance and mobility tests, including simulated spacewalk tasks in a pressurized suit, to measure how well the body adjusts to long-duration flight and how quickly it adjusts to Earth’s gravity.
Measuring radiation
Unlike astronauts aboard the ISS, the Artemis 2 crew will travel beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere, where space radiation is at its highest.
To monitor that risk, astronauts will carry radiation sensors, known as dosimeters, in their pockets to monitor their level in real time. Plus six radiation sensors installed throughout the Orion crew module, these devices can detect sudden increases in radiation, such as during a solar storm, and alert the crew to take protective action.
Data from these instruments, along with measurements from several shoebox-sized cubeats provided by international partners, can help scientists better understand how radiation works inside Orion and how it affects human life experiments.
An unusual view of the moon
No overview of Artemis 2 would be complete without the moon itself.
As Orion orbits the far side of the moon, crews are expected to turn their attention outwards, using a three-hour window after the moon to study an area that hasn’t been carefully explored in more than 50 years. At Orion’s high altitude, the moon will appear about the size of a basketball the length of an arm.
At the scheduled viewing time during the far sidehemisphere turned away from Earth forever, astronomers will rely on their geological training to photograph and describe surface features created by ancient impacts and ancient volcanic flows, NASA explains .
What the crew sees will depend on how Orion flies and how far the sun’s light reaches it, but scientists say they can see places that have never been seen by the human eye.
Among the strongest terms are Eastern Basina large, 3.8-billion-year-old 600-kilometer (960-kilometer) wide scar that marks the boundary between the near and far sides of the moon and remained hidden during the Apollo era.
Astronomers can also see short flashes from meteoroids that hit the surface or faint clouds of dust on the surface of the moon that are not well understood, says NASA.
That feedback is expected to help guide Artemis’ future activities, including plans to the country’s astronauts near the south pole of the moon. Data collected from orbit can influence where future crews explore, what samples they collect and which areas hold the most scientific promise.
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