NASA plans to send some female body parts into space on an upcoming mission to the moon.
The unusual passengers will fly over the dark side of the moon later this month as part of the Artemis 1 mission.
2
NASA is planning to put real women on the moon, but women’s bodies are thought to be at greater risk of being negatively affected by space radiation.
This is where the mannequins Helga and Zohar come into play.
The material of the two torso is said to be similar to the bones, soft tissues and organs of an adult female.
As Helgar and Zohar travel around the moon, more than 10,000 sensors and radiation detectors will track the effects of space on these materials.
The plan is to send two identical torsos into space on the Artemis 1 mission, which will test all the technology needed to bring humans to the moon within a few years.
NASA plans to launch an Artemis 1 rocket into space later this month and send its Orion capsule around the moon.
The current release date is set for August 29.
The torso will remain on board and will be observed following landing.
One of the mannequins will be wearing the new radiation vest, but the other will take the space on its own.
There is also a third mannequin that will collect data on how flight vibrates and accelerates the body.
Previous research has found that radiation exposure makes women more likely to develop cancer.
Radiation is also thought to have a greater negative impact on female reproductive health.
NASA hopes to see more of this before launching a crewed Artemis 2 mission to the moon in 2024.
The space agency hopes to put a woman on the lunar surface by 2025.
It is hoped that Helga and Zohar’s experiments will help NASA reduce the effects of radiation ahead of these crewed missions.
The torso was designed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
“We’re looking at how radiation levels affect female astronauts throughout the flight to the moon, and what protections might help offset that,” said Thomas Berger of the DLR Institute for Aerospace Medicine.
Helga and Zohar can stay in space for six weeks.
They will experience the harsh effects of space radiation, which is known to alter DNA molecules.
