AstroRad vest can significantly reduce radiation exposure for humans in space

Ready for liftoff - Helga and Zohar in the Orion capsule

Helga and Zohar are seen here in crew seats three and four aboard the Orion spacecraft, ready for their flight to the Moon. The Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE) used two identical DLR radiation measuring phantoms to investigate radiation exposure throughout the flight. The 'Luna Twins' are modelled on female bodies. One of them, Helga, flew around the Moon unprotected at the end of 2022, while the other, Zohar, wore the newly developed AstroRad radiation protection vest. By comparing the two datasets after the flight, the MARE team investigated how well the vest could protect a female astronaut from harmful radiation exposure. DLR led the experiment, with the Israel Space Agency, Israeli company StemRad - developer of AstroRad - Lockheed Martin and NASA as the main project collaborators.

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