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In May 2024, a geomagnetic storm hit Earth, sending auroras across the planet\u2019s skies in a once-in-a-generation light display. These dazzling sights are possible because of the interaction of coronal mass ejections \u2013 explosions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun \u2013 with Earth\u2019s magnetic field, which protects us from the radiation the Sun spits out during turbulent storms.<\/p>\n
But what might happen to humans beyond the safety of Earth\u2019s protection? This question is essential as NASA plans to send humans to the Moon and on to Mars. During the May storm, the small spacecraft BioSentinel was collecting data to learn more about the impacts of radiation in deep space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to take advantage of the unique stage of the solar cycle we\u2019re in \u2013 the solar maximum, when the Sun is at its most active \u2013 so that we can continue to monitor the space radiation environment,\u201d said Sergio Santa Maria, principal investigator for BioSentinel\u2019s spaceflight mission at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley. \u201cThese data are relevant not just to the heliophysics community but also to understand the radiation environment for future crewed missions into deep space.\u201d<\/p>\n
BioSentinel \u2013 a small satellite about the size of a cereal box \u2013 is currently over 30 million miles from Earth, orbiting the Sun, where it weathered May\u2019s coronal mass ejection without protection from a planetary magnetic field. Preliminary analysis of the data collected indicates that even though this was an extreme geomagnetic storm, that is, a storm that disturbs Earth\u2019s magnetic field, it was considered just a moderate solar radiation storm, meaning it did not produce a great increase in hazardous solar particles. Therefore, such a storm did not pose any major issue to terrestrial lifeforms, even if they were unprotected as BioSentinel was. These measurements provide useful information for scientists trying to understand how solar radiation storms move through space and where their effects \u2013 and potential impacts on life beyond Earth \u2013 are most intense.<\/p>\n
The original mission of BioSentinel was to study samples of yeast in deep space. Though these yeast samples are no longer alive, BioSentinel has adapted and continues to be a novel platform for studying the potential impacts of deep space conditions on life beyond the protection of Earth\u2019s atmosphere and magnetosphere. The spacecraft\u2019s biosensor instrument collects data about the radiation in deep space. Over a year and a half after its launch in Nov. 2022, BioSentinel retreats farther away from Earth, providing data of increasing value to scientists.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though the biological part of the BioSentinel mission was completed a few months after launch, we believe that there is significant scientific value in continuing with the mission,\u201d said Santa Maria. \u201cThe fact that the CubeSat continues to operate and that we can communicate with it, highlights the potential use of the spacecraft and many of its subsystems and components for future long-term missions beyond low Earth orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n
When we see auroras in the sky, they can serve as a stunning reminder of all the forces we cannot see that govern our cosmic neighborhood. As NASA and its partners seek to understand more about space environments, platforms like BioSentinel are essential to learn more about the risks of surviving beyond Earth\u2019s sphere of protection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n