BioSentinel

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

1. Cassini-Huygens        Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth
2. Messenger                   Mapping and investigating the Mercury
3. Voyager                        Exploring the outer solar system

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3