{"id":14428,"date":"2025-09-11T18:03:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/artemis-ii-crew-both-subjects-and-scientists-in-nasa-deep-space-research\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T18:03:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:03:58","slug":"artemis-ii-crew-both-subjects-and-scientists-in-nasa-deep-space-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/artemis-ii-crew-both-subjects-and-scientists-in-nasa-deep-space-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II Crew Both Subjects and Scientists in NASA Deep Space Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artemis II Crew Both Subjects and Scientists in NASA Deep Space Research<\/h2>\n

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Artemis II NASA astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. The test ensures the ground systems team is ready to support the crew timeline on launch day.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Frank Michaux<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With Artemis II, NASA is taking the science of living and working in space beyond low Earth orbit. While the test flight will help confirm the systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration, the crew also will be serving as both scientists and volunteer research subjects, completing a suite of experiments that will allow NASA to better understand how human health may change in deep space environments. Results will help the agency build future interventions, protocols, and preventative measures to best protect astronauts on future missions to the lunar surface and to Mars.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Science on Artemis II<\/a> will include seven main research areas:<\/p>\n

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ARCHeR: Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n
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NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission provides an opportunity to explore how deep space travel affects sleep, stress, cognition, and teamwork \u2014 key factors in astronaut health and performance. While these effects are well-documented in low Earth orbit, they\u2019ve never been fully studied during lunar missions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Artemis II astronauts who agreed to be part of the study will wear wristband devices<\/a> that continuously monitor movement and sleep patterns throughout the mission. The data will be used for real-time health monitoring and safety assessments, while pre- and post-flight evaluations will provide deeper insights into cognition, behavior, sleep quality, and teamwork in the unique environment of deep space and the Orion spacecraft.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The findings from the test flight will inform future mission planning and crew support systems, helping NASA optimize human performance for the next era of exploration on the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n

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Immune Biomarkers<\/h3>\n
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Saliva provides a unique window into how the human immune system functions in a deep space environment. Tracing changes in astronauts\u2019 saliva from before, during, and after the mission will enable researchers to investigate how the human body responds to deep space in unprecedented ways.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dry saliva will be collected before, during, and after the mission. It will be blotted onto specialized paper in pocket-sized booklets since equipment needed to preserve wet spit samples in space \u2013 including refrigeration \u2013 will not be available due to volume constraints. To augment that information, liquid saliva and blood samples will be collected before and after the mission.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik prepares to collect a dry saliva sample aboard the International Space Station. The process, which helps scientists investigate how the immune system is affected by spaceflight and will be part of the Artemis II mission, involves blotting saliva onto special paper that\u2019s stored in pocket-sized booklets.<\/div>\n
Credit: NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With these wet and dry saliva samples, scientists will gain insights<\/a> into how the astronauts\u2019 immune systems are affected by the increased stresses of radiation, isolation, and distance from Earth during their deep space flight. They also will examine whether otherwise dormant viruses are reactivated in space, as has been seen previously on the International Space Station with viruses that can cause chickenpox and shingles.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The information gathered from this study, when combined with data from other missions, will help researchers develop ways to keep crew members safe and healthy as we explore farther and travel for longer periods on deep space missions.<\/p>\n

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AVATAR: A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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AVATAR is another important component of NASA\u2019s strategy to gain a holistic understanding of how the deep space environment affects humans. Scientists plan to use organ-on-a-chip technology during Artemis II, marking the first time these devices will be used beyond the Van Allen belts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Roughly the size of a USB thumb drive, the chips will measure how individual astronauts respond to deep space stressors, including extreme radiation and microgravity. The organ chips will contain cells developed from preflight blood donations provided by crew members to create miniature stand-ins, or \u201cavatars,\u201d of their bone marrow. Bone marrow plays a vital role in the immune system and is particularly sensitive to radiation, which is why scientists selected it for this study.<\/p>\n

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An organ chip for conducting bone marrow experiments in space. <\/div>\n
Credit: Emulate<\/em><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A key goal for this research is to validate whether organ chips can serve as accurate tools for measuring and predicting human responses to stressors. To evaluate this, scientists will compare AVATAR data with space station findings, as well as with samples taken from the crew before and after flight.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

AVATAR could inform measures to ensure crew health on future deep space missions, including personalizing medical kits to each astronaut. For citizens on Earth, it could lead to advancements in individualized treatments for diseases such as cancer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

AVATAR is a demonstration of the power of public-private partnerships. It\u2019s a collaboration between government agencies and commercial space companies: NASA, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences within the National Institutes of Health, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Space Tango, and Emulate.<\/p>\n

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Artemis II Standard Measures<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The crew also will become the first astronauts in deep space to participate in the Spaceflight Standard Measures study, an investigation that\u2019s been collecting data from participating crew members aboard the space station and elsewhere since 2018. The study aims<\/a> to collect a comprehensive snapshot of astronauts\u2019 bodies and minds by gathering a consistent set of core measurements of physiological response.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The crew will provide biological samples including blood, urine, and saliva for evaluating nutritional status, cardiovascular health, and immunological function starting about six months before their launch. The crew also will participate in tests and surveys evaluating balance, vestibular function, muscle performance, changes in their microbiome, as well as ocular and brain health. While in space, data gathering will include an assessment of motion sickness symptoms. After landing, there will be additional tests of head, eye, and body movements, among other functional performance tasks. Data collection will continue for a month after their return.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

All this information will be available for scientists interested in studying the effects of spaceflight via request to NASA\u2019s Life Sciences Data Archive<\/a>. The results from this work could lead to future interventions, technologies, and studies that help predict the adaptability of crews on a Mars mission.<\/p>\n

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Radiation Sensors Inside Orion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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During the uncrewed Artemis I mission, Orion was blanketed in 5,600 passive and 34 active radiation sensors. The information they gathered assured researchers Orion\u2019s design can provide protection for crew members from hazardous radiation levels during lunar missions. That doesn\u2019t mean that scientists don\u2019t want more information, however.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Similar to Artemis I, six active radiation sensors, collectively called the Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessors, will be deployed at various locations inside the Orion crew module. Crew also will wear dosimeters in their pockets. These sensors will provide warnings of hazardous radiation levels caused by space weather events made by the Sun. If necessary, this data will be used by mission control to drive decisions for the crew to build a shelter to protect from radiation exposure due to space weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Additionally, NASA has again partnered the German Space Agency DLR for an updated model of their M-42 sensor \u2013 an M-42 EXT \u2013 for Artemis II. The new version offers six times more resolution to distinguish between different types of energy, compared to the Artemis\u00a0I version. This will allow it to accurately measure the radiation exposure from heavy ions which are thought to be particularly hazardous for radiation risk. Artemis II will carry four of the monitors, affixed at points around the cabin by the crew.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Collectively,\u00a0sensor data will paint a full picture of radiation exposures inside Orion and provide context for interpreting the results of the ARCHeR, AVATAR, Artemis II Standard Measures, and Immune Biomarkers experiments.<\/p>\n

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Lunar Observations Campaign<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The Artemis II crew will take advantage of their location to explore the Moon<\/a> from above. As the first humans to see the lunar surface up close since 1972, they\u2019ll document their observations through photographs and audio recordings to inform scientists\u2019 understanding of the Moon and share their experience of being far from Earth. It\u2019s possible the crew could be the first humans to see certain areas of the Moon\u2019s far side, though this will depend on the time and date of launch, which will affect which areas of the Moon will be illuminated and therefore visible when the spacecraft flies by.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Spacecraft such as NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been surveying and mapping the Moon for decades, but Artemis II provides a unique opportunity for humans to evaluate the lunar surface from above. Human eyes and brains are highly sensitive to subtle changes in color, texture, and other surface characteristics. Having the crew observe the lunar surface directly \u2013 equipped with questions that scientists didn\u2019t even know to ask during Apollo missions \u2013 could form the basis for future scientific investigations into the Moon\u2019s geological history, the lunar environment, or new impact sites.<\/p>\n

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This visualization simulates what the crew of Artemis II might see out the Orion windows on the day of their closest approach to the Moon. It compresses 36 hours into a little more than a minute as it flies the virtual camera on a realistic trajectory that swings the spacecraft around the Moon\u2019s far side. This sample trajectory is timed so that the far side is fully illuminated when the astronauts fly by, but other lighting conditions are possible depending on the exact Artemis II launch date. The launch is scheduled for no later than April of 2026. <\/div>\n
NASA Goddard\/Ernie Wright<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It will also offer the first opportunity for an Artemis mission to integrate science flight control operations. From their console in the flight control room in mission control, a science officer will consult with a team of scientists with expertise in impact cratering, volcanism, tectonism, and lunar ice, to provide real-time data analysis and guidance to the Artemis II crew in space. During the mission, the lunar science team will be located in mission control\u2019s Science Evaluation Room<\/a> at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Lessons learned during Artemis II will pave the way for lunar science operations on future missions.<\/p>\n

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CubeSats<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Several additional experiments are hitching a ride to space onboard Artemis II in the form of CubeSats \u2013 shoe-box-sized technology demonstrations and scientific experiments. Though separate from the objectives of the Artemis II mission, they may enhance understanding of the space environment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Technicians install the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) K-Rad Cube within the Orion stage adapter inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. The K-Rad Cube, about the size of a shoebox, is one of the CubeSats slated to fly on NASA\u2019s Artemis II test flight in 2026. <\/div>\n
Credit: NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Four international space agencies have signed agreements to send CubeSats into space aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, each with their own objectives. All will be released from an adapter on the SLS upper stage into a high-Earth orbit, where they will conduct an orbital maneuver to reach their desired orbit.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n