Three mannequins will soon travel to Luna on the orion spaceshipthat NASA will launch soon as part of the mission Artemis I. These will be dressed in space suits, which will be equipped with sensors that will provide information about what the crew members might experience during the trip.
In this way, NASA will learn how it can best protect astronauts humans, who will actually travel to the satellite on their next mission, the Artemis II. This has been explained by the aeronautical administration itself, which maintains: “mannequins have been used for a long time as a replacement for humans in various industries.”
Some of the data they hope to collect are radiation levels -which will be measured by the sensors of the suits-, as well as acceleration and vibrations that they will experience – that they will detect the sensors placed in the seat of one of the mannequins: one in the headrest and, another, under the seat-.
“It is crucial that we get the data from the dummy to ensure that all newly designed systems integrate and provide the protection that crew members will need for our first manned mission aboard Artemis II,” he says. Jason Hutthead of Systems Integration for the Orion Crew.
Helga and Zohar’s experiment
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Two of the protagonists of this adventure will be Helga y Zohar, two identical female mannequins, who will occupy the two lower seats in Orion. They will be part of a scientific study called ‘AstroRad Matroshka Radiation Experiment’ (MAREfor its acronym in English), which will measure the amount of space radiation that could be experienced by astronauts inside Orion during missions to the Moon, and to evaluate a chaleco protector -called AstroRad— which can reduce radiation exposure. The vest is currently being evaluated by astronauts on the International Space Station for body fit and function.
“Each of these passengers aboard Orion is for the purpose of inform about the working conditions and safety of astronauts, helping NASA and its allies to prepare better for possible detrimental effects of space missions outside, and to minimize them”, says NASA in a statement.