NASA’s CubeSat BioSentinel has transported living things farther from Earth than any other spacecraft has ever done: more than a million miles, four times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
The record refers to living beings transported deliberately and in significant quantities. It is possible that a few terrestrial microorganisms, by way of stowaways, have made it further alive aboard space probes.
On board the BioSentinel, a spacecraft of the type known as CubeSat and with the size of a shoebox, travel microorganisms, specifically yeasts, of the same types that are involved in the preparation of bread and beer.
A few days ago, from the NASA Ames Research Center, the order was sent to the spacecraft to begin the initial experiment of what will be, if all goes as planned, the first long-term biology study in deep space. . It will now be possible to see directly how living organisms react to radiation from deep space.
Artemis missions to the Moon will help prepare for ever-longer human flights and ever-greater distances from Earth, with destinations like Mars. Since yeast cells have biological mechanisms similar to those of human cells, including those that repair DNA damage, studying yeast in space will help to better understand the risks of space radiation to humans. The scientific results obtained thanks to the BioSentinel will fill critical gaps in the knowledge of the risks that space radiation poses to human health in deep space.
Illustration of the BioSentinel spacecraft flying in heliocentric orbit. (Image: NASA/Daniel Rutter)
Launched into space with the Orion Artemis 1 spacecraft on November 16, 2022, the BioSentinel is orbiting the Sun. From its orbit, the CubeSat will carry out a series of experiments over the next five to six months. . (Fountain: NCYT de Amazings)