Taking Radiation Protection to a New Level

March 20, 2017

The Israel Space Agency signed a Declaration of Intent on the launching of an innovative Israeli development, a radiation protection suit, on the next test flight of the spacecraft ‘Orion’ which is scheduled to reach Mars. Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis said: “Israeli space technology is known as innovative, reflecting ‘out of the box’ thinking. We are proud to be pioneer partners in one of humanity’s most exciting experiments in the coming years.”

The story of the Israeli radiation protection suit was born during a restless night experienced by Dr. Oren Milstein after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Knowledge gained during his PhD. studies in Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science led him to think of a solution that could save people exposed to extreme radiation. Dr. Milstein founded the start-up StemRad which has developed a special belt to protect the pelvis which contains half of the human bone marrow. The belt is now widely used among first responders around the world.

“High intensity ionizing radiation destroys the bone marrow which is the body’s factory for blood production, causing severe anemia, infections and cancer,” said Dr. Milstein. “Research has shown that it is sufficient to protect about 5% of bone marrow cells to lead to renewal and recovery.”

Based on the same principle of the belt, the company is developing, together with Lockheed Martin, a more advanced suit to protect against cosmic radiation in space. The suit is due to be launched with the first test flight of the spacecraft ‘Orion’, currently being built by NASA, and scheduled to be launched to the moon in 2018. The flight, Exploration Mission 1, is considered to be critical towards the preparation of future manned flights in which Orion will take astronauts to Mars.

Part of the test flight in 2018 will be devoted to the effects of deep space radiation and its absorption in the human body. After the spacecraft’s return to earth, the team will examine the level of radiation absorbed by the suit and its effectiveness and make adjustments as required. The hope is that the suit will be included as standard in the manned Exploration Mission 2, planned for 2021, and future journeys to Mars.

Source: Excerpt of press release by Ministry of Science, Technology and Space Spokesperson

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