AstroRad vest shows potential to reduce astronaut radiation exposure

Data from NASA’s Artemis I mission indicates that the AstroRad radiation protection vest can significantly reduce astronaut exposure to solar radiation. The Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in collaboration with the Israel Space Agency, utilized two human-shaped measurement phantoms, Helga and Zohar, aboard the Orion spacecraft during its 2022 lunar mission.

While Helga traveled without protection, Zohar wore the AstroRad vest, which uses bismuth-based, hydrogen-rich polymers to provide localized shielding for radiation-sensitive organs and tissues, such as bone marrow. Researchers found that for a solar event modeled on an August 1972 storm, the vest could reduce the effective radiation dose by approximately 60%. In a more energetic event modeled on an October 1989 storm, the reduction was just under 40%.

This experiment provides critical data for future crewed lunar and deep-space expeditions, where the lack of Earth’s magnetic field protection increases risks from galactic cosmic rays and unpredictable solar particle events. The findings validate the vest’s ability to mitigate stochastic health risks, such as carcinogenesis, by protecting high-turnover tissues in the thoracic and pelvic cavities.