Science and Technology
In News: NASA’s Artemis I mission will send yeast to deep space with BioSentinel.
- NASA’s BioSentinel will carry microorganisms to deep space to help scientists better understand the effects of deep space radiation on biological lifeforms.
Objective:
- The primary objective of BioSentinel is to monitor the vital signs of yeast to see how the microorganism fare when exposed to the radiation of deep space.
- Yeast cells have biological mechanisms that are like human cells, including DNA damage and repair.
- Due to this, scrutinising yeast in space will help us better understand the risks of space radiation to humans as the space agency plans missions to the Moon and beyond.
- For this, BioSentinel will study yeast cell growth and metabolic activity after exposure to a high-radiation environment.
- A key component of BioSentinel’s mission is a novel biosensor. NASA refers to it as a “miniature biotechnology laboratory” that is designed to measure how living yeast cells respond to long-term space radiation exposure.
- BioSentinel is just one of the Artemis I mission’s ten secondary payloads that will hitch a ride to deep space.
- All these satellites are mounted in the Orion stage adapter on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
Must Read: Artemis I mission
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Question
Q.1) Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched? (2014)
Spacecraft Purpose
- Cassini-Huygens Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth
- Messenger Mapping and investigating the Mercury
- Voyager Exploring the outer solar system
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- 1 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
