Helga and Zohar will be the models who will travel to the moon aboard Artemis I

Thousands of sensors to study their effect on humans cosmic radiation was placed in Helga s Zohartwo mannequins are ready to fly on the Artemis I mission to the moon.

These models, called “ghosts”, are made of Materials that imitate bonesand soft tissues and human organsIn it, the effect of the 42 days that I will spend Artemis in deep space will be analyzed. Paul Segar and Ehsan Samei, both researchers in advanced imaging labs At Duke University School of Medicine, he helped develop these models using methods originally created to precisely study how different medical procedures, tools, and techniques affect organs throughout the human body.

Usually these are ‘ghosts’ virtual And we use it to create avatars of patience. The goal of our work is that, rather than implement Clinical trial In the case of human patients, you can use these avatars and run a simulated clinical trial through a computer,” explains Sami, professor of radiology, in a Duke University statement. With this project, we transform these Virtual Gods on physical models to study radiation specifically, and this is the first time they’ve been sent around the moon.”

People on Earth are protected from cosmic radiation by Earth’s atmosphere, but when astronauts travel through space, they don’t have that protection. Understand how to mitigate harmful effects These cosmic rays are one of the main obstacles to deep space travel to places like Marswhere is the astronauts May be exposed to radiation for up to 36 months.

“What is important when calculating the risk to a patient or astronaut is not the amount of the total radiation dose received, but the amount of the dose received in individual organs such as the brain, heart, liver and kidneys,” Sami said. “Every organ has a different sensitivity to radiation, and our ghosts give us a way to better understand this danger.”

The project is called Matroshka AstroRad radiation experience, or MARE, Segars and Samei collaborated with researchers from NASA, the German Aerospace Center, the Israel Space Agency, and CIRS (Computerized Imaging Reference Systems), to develop Helga and Zohar. Duke researchers have developed a computational algorithm to create a map of the internal anatomy of ghostswhich was later used as a guide to precisely place thousands of radiation sensors.

The ghosts of Helga and Zohar look alike human trunks and containment Materials for Specifically mimics the anatomy of an adult femaleBecause female organs such as the uterus and breast tissue are particularly sensitive to radiation. When Artemis I is released, Helga will wear regular clothes, while Zohar will be equipped with a radiation jacket, called AstroRad, developed by StemRad and Lockheed Martin.

“The study will provide valuable data on levels of radiation that astronauts You may encounter on lunar missions and will evaluate the effectiveness of the flak jacket that can allow crew Remain in the storm shelter and continue to work on mission critical activities despite the solar storm,” NASA explained in Marr’s description.

Once their ghosts return to Earththe research team will measure the radiation collected on the sensors to determine how effective it is security jacket. They will also use Helga’s data to calculate the level of radiation astronauts might encounter during various space missions, whether it’s a short trip to the Moon or an adventure to Mars.

“This is the first time anyone has been able to measure radiation levels The astronauts will be carrying a precious cargo, and the information we get from this crew will give us valuable information we need for the safe future of space exploration, Sami said.