[아이뉴스24 정종오 기자] Artemis, a project that aims to land humans on the moon again in 2024. The first phase will begin on the 29th.
Artemis proceeds in three stages. The first phase is a project to return to Earth after an unmanned orbital flight to the moon. The second stage is a manned lunar orbital flight that takes astronauts and returns to Earth after orbiting the moon. The final three phases consisted of a program to re-land humans on the moon after 1969.
Several countries, including Korea, are participating in this project together.
The first phase of unmanned orbital flight will begin on August 29. Another device is loaded in this first stage launch, attracting attention. It is a mission to load yeast on CubeSat and place it in outer space. It is a system that studies how cosmic radiation affects yeast.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) explained that in order for humans to settle and travel for a long time in deep space, it is necessary to accurately understand how cosmic radiation affects the human body. In the future, humanity has set a goal of advancing not only to the moon but also to the farther Mars.
Cosmic radiation has a devastating effect on cells. ‘BioSentinel’, made of CubeSat the size of a shoebox, is equipped with yeast and is intended to detect vital signs when the yeast is exposed to cosmic radiation.
BioSentinel’s mission is to monitor the vital signs of yeast to determine how the yeast behaves when exposed to deep cosmic radiation. Yeast cells undergo biological processes similar to human cells, including DNA damage and repair.
A closer look at how yeast changes in deep space can help us better understand the dangers of cosmic radiation to humans as well as biological organisms. Biosentinel studies yeast cell growth and metabolic activity after exposure to high-radiation environments beyond low Earth orbit.
The BioSentinel is mounted on the Orion stage adapter that is connected to the next-generation Space Launch System (SLS). The Orion spacecraft is connected to this stage adapter.
“Biosentinel will detect changes in biosignals in the context of cosmic radiation,” said Matthew Napoli, NASA’s Dr.
Biosentinels are deployed into space hours after Artemis launch. A few days later, the biosentinel passes through the moon and then orbits the sun for six to nine months, exposing it to powerful cosmic radiation. It then sends related data through NASA’s deep space network.
Biosentinel is equipped with a high-performance biosensor. The installed biosensor is like a small biotechnology laboratory designed to measure how living yeast cells respond to prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation.
“As the size of the CubeSat gets smaller and smaller due to the development of related technologies, space for more missions has been prepared,” a NASA official said.
/Reporter Jeong Jong-oh(ikokid@inews24.com)<!–
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