MEET BIOSENTINEL: THE FIRST BIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT IN DEEP SPACE

Recently, NASA launched a rocket called Artemis-I toward the Moon! The mission objective was to test the safety of the Space Launch System for future human travel into deep space. But vehicle safety is not the only concern for space travelers. Space radiation is an invisible danger to astronauts because it can damage the body’s cells and potentially lead to serious health problems. How do we study the effects of space radiation on cells? Meet BioSentinel! BioSentinel is a small satellite deployed from Artemis-I that carries yeast cells and a sensor to measure space radiation. The job of BioSentinel is to transmit data from the cells in deep space back to Earth. In this article

Recently, NASA launched a rocket called Artemis-I toward the Moon!The mission objective was to test the safety of the Space Launch System for future human travel into deep space.But vehicle safety is not the only concern for space travelers.Space radiation is an invisible danger to astronauts because it can damage the body's cells and potentially lead to serious health problems.How do we study the e ects of space radiation on cells?Meet BioSentinel!BioSentinel is a small satellite deployed from Artemis-I that carries yeast cells and a sensor to measure space radiation.The job of BioSentinel is to transmit data from the cells in deep space back to Earth.In this article, we will explore the BioSentinel mission, discuss how the data are obtained and transmitted, and give examples of how the data from BioSentinel will help scientists better understand the e ects of space radiation on living things.
Did you know that scientists are sending living organisms into space, to study how space radiation a ects life forms [ ]? It is true!Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) deployed a small satellite, called BioSentinel, from the Artemis-I SATELLITE An object that goes around (orbits) a planet.rocket.BioSentinel carried yeast cells into space, to help scientists learn more about the e ects of space radiation.This article will explore the BioSentinel mission and why it is important for space travel.

WHAT IS THE BIOSENTINEL MISSION?
The Artemis-I rocket (Figure A) started its journey to the Moon on November , .The aim of the mission was to test the safety of the Space Launch System for future human journeys into deep space.Vehicle safety, however, is not the only risk for space travelers.Astronauts are exposed to radiation while they are in space, which can lead to serious health e ects.Therefore, alongside the primary launch objectives of Artemis-I, small satellites were also deployed to test other risks of space travel, with BioSentinel being one of them.The BioSentinel satellite consists of a shoe box-sized unit ( Figures B, C) that holds yeast cells and the necessary electronics and solar panels to power the satellite in space.

WHY STUDY SPACE RADIATION?
Space radiation consists of solar particles originating from the Sun and

SOLAR PARTICLES
Energetic particles released from the Sun into space.
galactic cosmic rays originating outside our solar system.(For more

GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS
High energy particles of di erent types originating from outside of our solar system that travel through space at very fast speeds.
information on space radiation, see this Frontiers for Young Minds article.)Space radiation includes high-energy particles that travel through space at very high speeds and can pass through things like learn more about space flight health risks see this Frontiers for Young Minds article.)DNA damage can lead to serious health problems like cancer.Most of the time, cells fix damage correctly; but in some cases, damage is too complex for the cell to repair.In these cases, the cell might die or repair itself incorrectly, leading to mutations in its DNA.

MUTATION
Changes in the DNA of organisms that can make the cells function di erently.
Cells with mutations can start multiplying uncontrollably, and that is how cancer forms over time.Many of the health problems caused by space radiation, like cancer, are delayed e ects-so astronauts would not get sick until later in their lifetimes, after they have returned to Earth.By studying space radiation, scientists hope to learn more about how it a ects living things and how to protect astronauts.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE BIOSENTINEL MISSION?
The Artemis-I spacecraft has safely returned to Earth, but BioSentinel will remain in space collecting data.The mission is set for months, during which data from the radiation sensor and microfluidic cards are periodically transmitted to Earth.After the mission is complete, scientists will analyze all the data to learn more about how space radiation a ects living things.Furthermore, the data will be compared to experiments on Earth and on the International Space Station, and also compared with computer simulations of the radiation-containing space environment.These data, together with information from other space studies, could be used to develop new ways to protect astronauts from radiation during long space missions-to the Moon, Mars, and beyond!Data could also have important implications for cancer research and other areas of human health related to space travel.

CONCLUSION
The BioSentinel mission is an exciting project that aims to study the e ects of space radiation on living organisms.By sending yeast cells into deep space, scientists hope to learn more about how radiation a ects cells and how to protect astronauts on long-duration space missions, as NASA prepares astronauts to return to the Moon and eventually travel to Mars and beyond.The results of the BioSentinel mission could have important implications for human health, and we cannot wait to see what scientists learn from this groundbreaking mission.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

COPYRIGHT ©
Rahmanian, Slaba, Straume, Bhattacharya and Santa Maria.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice.No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

YOUNG REVIEWERS
ABYAN, AGE: Hi, I am Abyan!I like science, specifically space related science, and physics!I also like mathematics and English.I would say that I am an independent person who loves new challenges.An example would be that I just recently started playing competitive tennis.I have a pet cat named Astro and I love spending time with him!In my free time, I play and interact with my friends and read about new space discoveries.

BAIRON, AGE:
I am from Beaverton, Oregon.I love learning di erent fun facts about science.In my leisure time, I like playing tennis and coding.I also love to participate in events outside the science field.I participated in the event called "Oregon Battle of the Books" last year, , and our team represented our elementary school in the regional contest.I also submitted an essay for the essay competition held by the Oregon government and my essay was selected to publish in the Oregon Blue Book .I was also invited to the Capital of Oregon for a ceremony and saw lots of Senates.

RANJAI, AGE:
Ranjai loves math, chess, and physics and is especially a big fan of the NASA labs and space explorations.

RANVIR, AGE:
Ranvir loves origami models, reptiles, insects, and every specimen in his biology lab.

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Figure (A) The Artemis-I rocket was sent to space with the main mission of testing the safety of the Space Launch System.(B) Artemis-I also deployed BioSentinel, a shoe box-sized satellite.(C) BioSentinel was loaded with yeast cells, to study the e ects of space radiation on living things in deep space.BioSentinel also has solar panels for power and contains the electronics necessary to send information back to Earth (Image Credit: adapted from NASA.gov).
spacecrafts and the spacesuits of astronauts [ ]. Space radiation can harm humans and other living things if they are exposed to it for too long, because it can damage DNA and other important cell parts.
BioSentinel uses yeast cells(Figure D)  to study how living things respond to space radiation [ ]. Yeast cells are single-celled organisms commonly used to help bread dough rise or in the fermentation process used to make beer.The type of yeast used in BioSentinel is frequently used in research in many types of labs around the world.It was the first organism to have its DNA fully sequenced, for example.Yeast cells are important in scientific experiments because they share many similarities with human cells, and therefore the results obtained from yeast cells can give us clues about human health.Yeast cells can withstand the rigors of space travel, especially since they can be dried out and only activated by liquid when they are needed.Yeast cells can also be modified to make them either more sensitive or more

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Figure (A) BioSentinel contains a radiation sensor, to measure space radiation, and microfluidic cards containing yeast cells, to monitor the e ects of space radiation on living cells.(B, C) The microfluidic system is made up of multiple smaller card units, and it can deliver nutrient-containing fluids to the yeast cells to help them survive.The microfluidic system also delivers the dye used for measuring DNA damage in response to space radiation.(D) Yeast cells (Image Credit: Adapted from NASA.gov).

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Figure (A) To monitor the response of yeast cells to radiation during the BioSentinel mission, a special blue dye is added to the microfluidic cards.(B)When yeast cells are healthy and metabolically active (using nutrients to survive and grow), the dye changes from blue to pink.(B) However, if radiation damages yeast DNA, the rate of metabolic activity can change.The cells with damage remain blue longer, while the cells not a ected by radiation turn pink faster.
AUTHORS SHIRIN RAHMANIAN Dr. Shirin Rahmanian is a research scientist and member of the Multi-Model Ensemble Risk Assessment project at NASA Langley Research Center.Her research focuses on space radiation and modeling the associated risks for long-duration kids.frontiersin.orgspace missions.Dr. Rahmanian earned her Ph.D. in Medical Physics from University of Heidelberg, Germany.*shirin.rahmanian@nasa.govTONY SLABA Dr. Tony Slaba is a research physicist at NASA Langley Research Center, working in the areas of space radiation physics, particle transport, experimental radiobiology, and risk assessment.He received his Ph.D. in computational and applied mathematics from Old Dominion University in , and he has authored or contributed to over peer reviewed journal articles since .He currently serves as a council member for the National Council for Radiation Protection and Measurements.