NASA's Artemis 2 mission will study human health in deep space
NASA's Artemis 2 mission, on track to launch as early as the first week of February 2026, will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the Moon—about 402335km from Earth.
Besides being a big step in space exploration, a key goal is to study how deep space affects human health.
Monitoring the crew's health
The crew will wear special dosimeters to track radiation exposure, and wristbands to monitor movement and sleep patterns as they fly through intense cosmic rays—much more than what astronauts get on the ISS.
They'll also give saliva samples to check immune responses and stress hormones before, during, and after their journey.
Simulating tissue reactions in space
NASA's also sending USB-sized chips seeded with bone marrow-derived stem cells purified from cells remaining in the astronauts' blood-platelet donation samples to simulate how their tissues react in space.
This tech could help scientists create personalized ways to keep future Moon or Mars explorers healthy—even when they're really far from Earth.