TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — A vest developed by an Israeli company to protect astronauts from solar radiation in deep space is set for trials on a lunar mission.
The AstroRad Radiation Shield, developed by Tel Aviv-based StemRad, is a vest made of layers of non-metallic protective materials. It will be tailor-made for each astronaut to protect vital human tissue, particularly the stem cells. The vest is said to be able to protect the astronauts from solar stores or flares.
“Based on our simulations, we're sure it works but to be 100 percent sure, we're sending it up on EM-1 [NASA’s Exploration Mission-1]," Stemrad's chief technologist, Gideon Waterman told Reuters.
According to ABC News, the vest will be tested on the Orion spacecraft during its lunar flyby mission scheduled for late 2018. The destinations of the Orion spacecraft include near-Earth asteroids, the Moon, the moons of Mars and Mars itself.