COLORADO SPRINGS \u2014 An upcoming exercise will help NASA respond if there is a solar storm during next year\u2019s Artemis 2 mission near the moon.<\/p>\n
NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) will host an exercise, scheduled for the end of April and early May, to test the ability to react to space weather events during the mission, providing warnings to the four-person crew.<\/p>\n
Artemis 2, scheduled to launch no later than April 2026, will be the first time humans have left Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.<\/p>\n
By doing so, they will leave the protection of the Earth\u2019s magnetosphere, which shields them from the worst effects of solar activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goals we have for this exercise include enhancing our preparedness for human spaceflight endeavors, focusing on the Artemis 2 mission,\u201d said Hazel Bain, a research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was speaking as part of a session of the Space Weather Workshop March 19.<\/p>\n
The exercise will also evaluate how new space weather products and applications would support the mission. In addition, the study will find ways to improve collaboration among various organizations, including NASA, SWPC, the Defense Department, academia and industry. \u201cWe want to get these groups together and understand everyone\u2019s roles and responsibilities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The exercise will use space weather data from a past solar storm, although participants won\u2019t be told in advance which event. The exercise will take place at a new testbed facility at SWPC\u2019s Boulder, Colorado, headquarters designed for exercises like this.<\/p>\n
NASA has been preparing for how to deal with solar storms from Artemis, which requires a change in procedures and mindsets. \u201cThings are going to be different when we go to the moon because we\u2019re not under the magnetic field most of the time, so it\u2019s always a constant threat,\u201d Steve Johnson of NASA\u2019s Space Radiation and Analysis Group (SRAG) said at the workshop. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot different from what we\u2019re used to for station operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Artemis 2 will have several instruments to monitor radiation conditions, and each astronaut will wear a dosimeter, a device that measures the dose uptake of external ionizing radiation.<\/p>\n
Johnson said SRAG has also analyzed the design of the Orion spacecraft against several of the largest solar proton events to determine the threshold where the crew would need to go into a storm shelter inside Orion.<\/p>\n
That shelter involves taking storage and waste bags in the spacecraft and creating \u201ca little pillow fort,\u201d said Rob Chambers of Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for Orion. The four astronauts would then huddle inside, pressed against one another until the storm subsides. \u201cThat\u2019s not a wonderful way to explore,\u201d he said, but is the only option on an Artemis mission where there is no way to immediately return to Earth.<\/p>\n
Later missions, though, may have more protection. The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission tested AstroRad, a vest designed to protect the torso from solar protons. One manikin, instrumented with radiation detectors, wore the vest, while an identical one did not. \u201cIt worked better than expected the first time out,\u201d he said, reducing the effective radiation dose by 40% to 61%.<\/p>\n
The vest could allow astronauts to exit the storm shelter during a solar event to perform critical spacecraft operations while still having some protection. \u201cJust wearing this vest would give you some benefits,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can do more than cuddle up under a pillow fort when these things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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