“It’s one big test, burdened with considerable risk,” Dr. Anna Fogtman told Poland’s PAP news agency, adding that the team preparing the 10-day flight around the Moon is ready for many scenarios, including a strong geomagnetic storm.
Fogtman works at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, part of the European Space Agency, where she leads radiological protection operations.
She and her team help prepare protections for the Artemis II astronauts against space radiation on the mission, which will send a crewed Orion capsule around the Moon without landing.
NASA has said the Orion spacecraft and its Space Launch System rocket are at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with liftoff planned no later than April.
NASA’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon and build experience for future crewed missions to Mars.
Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight, reached lunar orbit in 2022.
NASA has said the first astronaut landing is planned for Artemis III, currently targeted no earlier than late 2027.
Fogtman said astronauts should not face drastic radiation effects during Artemis II as exposure will be lower than during a typical six-month stay on the International Space Station.
However, she noted that beyond low Earth orbit, crews face more high-energy galactic radiation, which may carry longer-term health risks.
She said the most serious immediate threat outside low Earth orbit comes from intense solar activity, including coronal mass ejections, huge bursts of plasma and charged particles.
Without protection, such exposure could cause acute symptoms and raise the risk of later complications, including cataracts, she said.
Fogtman said Orion’s aluminum structure and onboard equipment reduce particle energy to safe levels. In the scenarios her team has studied, acute radiation effects in the Artemis II crew are not expected.
If solar monitoring suggests radiation were to exceed safety limits, mission control would alert the crew, she said.
Astronauts would shift Orion into a “shelter configuration,” rearranging the cabin to block as much radiation as possible.
She said Orion has four crew seats with open space between them and large stowage lockers holding nine bags of cargo such as clothing and personal items.
In a shelter setup, astronauts would move some bags to a cabin wall to add shielding and place others near the docking hatch.
An earlier plan for crew to squeeze into emptied lockers proved impractical, especially for taller astronauts, and the bag-shielding approach was deemed effective enough for the crew to ride out the hazard in the cabin, she said.
Fogtman said Artemis II’s main purpose is to test systems and devices not yet proven in deep space.
Under the plan, Orion will circle Earth at least twice after launch so controllers can confirm key systems work. If all is well, the mission will proceed to trans-lunar injection, a major engine burn sending the spacecraft toward the Moon.
“Then there will be no turning back,” she said.
She added Artemis II will test procedures linked to Gateway, a planned lunar-orbit station.
Orion’s cabin is designed to serve as an airlock in the future, she said, requiring crews to lower cabin pressure to match the station’s planned atmosphere.
During Artemis II, pressure is expected to be reduced on the outbound leg and restored on return, while oxygen levels are adjusted to keep breathing safe.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP