Israeli pride: the development that may protect astronauts on the way to the Moon and Mars

A study published in Science Advances presents results from an experiment on the Artemis 1 mission, in which the Israeli AstroRad vest was tested. The vest, developed by StemRad, reduced radiation exposure by up to 60% in models, equivalent to 40-193 days in space. The experiment included two mannequins, Helga and Zohar, and showed an advantage for targeted shielding over a uniform suit.

A new study published in the journal Science Advances presents results from an experiment conducted on the Artemis 1 mission, which launched in 2022 and lasted 25.5 days. As part of the experiment, the AstroRad vest, developed by the Israeli company StemRad, was tested on two mannequins aboard the Orion spacecraft: Helga without the vest and Zohar with the vest. The mannequins simulated the body of an adult woman and included thousands of radiation detectors. According to the model validated against mission data, the vest could reduce astronauts' radiation exposure by up to 60 percent, equivalent to 40 to 193 days in deep space. The vest, weighing about 26 kilograms, was designed to protect sensitive organs such as bone marrow, lungs, stomach, breasts, and ovaries, and is made of high-density polyethylene in a hexagonal structure. The study emphasizes that this is a model-based assessment, not a guaranteed mission extension, and that targeted shielding improves reduction by about 30% compared to a uniform suit. Innovation Minister Gila Gamliel, Ran Levana, and Dr. Oren Milstein expressed support for the development, highlighting Israel's contribution to global space research.