A radiation jacket tested on a NASA satellite could dampen the effects of solar storms, study suggests

Cape Canaveral, Florida – A protective jacket tested on a dummy during NASA’s first Artemis lunar mission could significantly reduce radiation exposure to lunar astronauts during severe solar storms, a new study suggests.

Scientists reported this week on a radiation-proof vest worn by a female test dummy around the moon in 2022. No one was on board the maiden Artemis 1 flight, which paved the way for humanity’s long-awaited return to the moon in April with a four-person flight crew.

Radiation remains one of the biggest threats facing astronauts as NASA works to establish a lunar base. Protective clothing could keep lunar crews safe when solar storms hit, and even allow them to venture outside their shelters if necessary, the American, German and Israeli team reported in the journal Science Advances.

A version of the jacket was previously tested on the International Space Station. It did not travel with the Artemis II astronauts because it was a short 10-day mission with limited space, but it may end up with future lunar crews.

Meant to be worn only during high-radiation solar events that may cause cancer, the jacket covers the most vulnerable human organs and tissues: lungs, stomach, bone marrow, breasts and ovaries. It is believed that women are particularly vulnerable to cancer caused by radiation.

Artemis carried two female dwarfs who spent nearly a month flying to the moon and back. The dolls, named Zohar and Helga, each measuring 3 feet tall from head to lower torso, were strapped into the passenger seats of NASA’s Orion capsule.

Zohar wore the 57-pound AstroRad vest, developed by the American-Israeli startup StemRad and Lockheed Martin. The companies have already tested a prototype on the space station for comfort and performance, and it is modeled after equipment worn by nuclear disaster teams.

Helga flew without a jacket, but like her companion, she had thousands of radiation sensors.

The study’s lead author, StemRad’s Jordan Houry, called it “the largest experiment ever conducted to determine astronauts’ exposure to radiation outside low-Earth orbit.” NASA, the German Aerospace Center and the Israel Space Agency provided funding. Radiation exposure is much lower for space travelers closer to home, thanks to Earth’s protective atmosphere and magnetic field.

Artemis I did not experience any large solar flares. But based on measurements collected as NASA’s Orion capsule passed through the inner Van Allen radiation belt, Houry and his team simulated how much protection the jacket would provide during extreme solar particle events like those in 1972 and 1989 that detonated magnetic sea mines and collapsed the power grid.

Fortunately for NASA, the 1972 solar flare occurred between two moon landings that year, keeping the Apollo 16 and 17 crews safe from exposure to deadly radiation.

The latest results indicated that the vest could reduce an astronaut’s radiation dose by about 60% in a ferocious solar storm like the one in 1972 and by about 40% in a catastrophe mirroring 1989. This equates to 193 days and 131 days, respectively, of unnecessary exposure to radiation in deep space, the scientists noted.

While none of the Apollo missions to the Moon exceeded two weeks, the Moon base envisioned by NASA would likely last for weeks, if not months, increasing the risk of enduring a dangerous solar storm. Expeditions to Mars will last much longer — months, years and perhaps a lifetime if SpaceX CEO Elon Musk achieves his goal of building a city on the Red Planet.

The scientists are using their observations to further reduce the weight of the jacket without sacrificing protection. They are also investigating how to make radiation shielding from items already on board a spacecraft – recycling that could save the lives of the crew.

Houri does not anticipate that further deep space testing will be needed anytime soon, as Zohar and Helga “provided us with an exceptionally large, high-resolution data set.”

Zohar and her jacket are now on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where their journey to the moon began.

Dunn writes for the Associated Press.