The Artemis 1 spacecraft is in orbit around the Moon this week, carrying 12,000 varieties of yeast as part of an experiment led by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
The yeast cells will help scientists answer a critical question in space exploration: How might human bodies fare in the extreme environment of deep space, where astronauts could be exposed to the equivalent of thousands of chest X-rays’ worth of radiation on every voyage.Ìý
NPR interviewed Luis Zea, a former Smead Aerospace research professor who is leading the project, and Tobias Niederwieser, a research associate in BioServe Space Technologies and engineer on the team.