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La NASA comparte avances sobre las primeras misiones lunares Artemis con tripulación


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Los miembros de la tripulación del Artemis II (de izquierda a derecha) Jeremy Hansen, astronauta de la CSA (Agencia Espacial Canadiense), y Christina Koch, Victor Glover y Reid Wiseman, astronautas de la NASA, parten del cuartel de tripulación de astronautas en el edificio de operaciones y control Neil Armstrong hacia los vehículos de transporte de la tripulación de Artemis antes de desplazarse a la plataforma de lanzamiento 39B como parte de una prueba integrada de los sistemas de tierra en el Centro Espacial Kennedy en Florida el miércoles 20 de septiembre, para poner a prueba la cronología de la tripulación para el día del lanzamiento.
NASA

La NASA anunció el martes cambios en las próximas misiones Artemis, que sentarán las bases para la exploración científica a largo plazo de la Luna, el aterrizaje de la primera mujer y la primera persona no blanca en la superficie lunar, y la preparación de expediciones con seres humanos a Marte en beneficio de todos. Para llevar a cabo estas misiones de forma segura, los dirigentes de la agencia han ajustado los calendarios de Artemis II y Artemis III para que los equipos técnicos puedan superar los retos asociados a los primeros desarrollos, operaciones e integración.

El objetivo de la NASA es ahora septiembre de 2025 para Artemis II, la primera misión Artemis tripulada alrededor de la Luna, y septiembre de 2026 para Artemis III, la cual se prevé que aterrice con los primeros astronautas cerca del Polo Sur lunar. Artemis IV, la primera misión a la estación espacial lunar Gateway, sigue prevista para 2028.

“Estamos regresando a la Luna como nunca antes lo habíamos hecho, y la seguridad de nuestros astronautas es la máxima prioridad de la NASA mientras nos preparamos para futuras misiones Artemis”, dijo el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson. “Hemos aprendido mucho desde Artemis I, y el éxito de estas primeras misiones depende de nuestras asociaciones comerciales e internacionales para ampliar nuestro alcance y comprensión del lugar de la humanidad en nuestro sistema solar. Artemis representa lo que podemos lograr como nación y como coalición mundial. Cuando nos proponemos lograr lo difícil, juntos podemos conseguir lo grandioso”.

Garantizar la seguridad de la tripulación es el principal motivo de los cambios en el calendario de Artemis II. Como primera prueba de vuelo Artemis con tripulación a bordo de la nave espacial Orion, la misión pondrá a prueba sistemas críticos de control medioambiental y de soporte vital necesarios para sustentar a los astronautas. Las pruebas de la NASA para calificar los componentes para mantener a la tripulación segura y garantizar el éxito de la misión han revelado problemas que requieren tiempo adicional para ser resueltos. Los equipos técnicos están solucionando un asunto relacionado con la batería y abordando retos con un componente del circuito responsable de la ventilación del aire y el control de la temperatura.

Se espera que la investigación de la NASA sobre la pérdida inesperada de trozos de capa de carbón del escudo térmico de la nave espacial durante Artemis I concluya esta primavera boreal. Los equipos técnicos han adoptado un enfoque metódico para entender el problema, que incluye un amplio muestreo del escudo térmico, pruebas y revisión de los datos de los sensores y las imágenes.

El nuevo calendario para Artemis III se alinea con el calendario actualizado para Artemis II, garantiza que la agencia pueda incorporar las lecciones aprendidas de Artemis II en la próxima misión y reconoce los retos de desarrollo que han experimentado los socios industriales de la NASA. Dado que cada misión Artemis  tripulada aumenta la complejidad y añade pruebas de vuelo para nuevos sistemas, el calendario ajustado proporcionará a los proveedores que desarrollan nuevas capacidades (SpaceX para el sistema de aterrizaje humano y Axiom Space para los trajes espaciales de nueva generación) tiempo adicional para las pruebas y cualquier refinamiento antes de la misión.

“Estamos dejando que el hardware nos dé información para que la seguridad de la tripulación guíe nuestra toma de decisiones. Utilizaremos la prueba de vuelo de Artemis II, y cada uno de los vuelos siguientes, para reducir el riesgo de futuras misiones a la Luna”, declaró Catherine Koerner, administradora asociada de la Dirección de Misiones de Desarrollo de Sistemas de Exploración de la sede central de la NASA en Washington. “Estamos resolviendo los retos asociados con las capacidades y operaciones nuevas, y estamos más cerca que nunca de establecer una exploración sostenida del vecino más cercano de la Tierra mediante Artemis”.

Además de las actualizaciones del calendario para Artemis II y III, la NASA está reexaminando el calendario para el lanzamiento de los primeros elementos integrados de Gateway, previsto anteriormente para octubre de 2025, con el fin de proporcionar tiempo de desarrollo adicional y alinear mejor ese lanzamiento con la misión Artemis IV en 2028.

La NASA también ha comunicado que ha pedido a los dos proveedores del sistema de aterrizaje para seres humanos de Artemis (SpaceX y Blue Origin) que, como parte de sus contratos actuales, empiecen a aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos en el desarrollo de sus sistemas a futuras variaciones para poder transportar grandes cargamentos en misiones posteriores.

“Artemis es una campaña de exploración a largo plazo para llevar a cabo actividades científicas en la Luna con astronautas y preparar futuras misiones tripuladas a Marte. Eso significa que debemos hacerlo bien a medida que desarrollamos y lanzamos nuestros sistemas fundamentales para que podamos llevar a cabo estas misiones con seguridad”, dijo Amit Kshatriya, administrador adjunto de Desarrollo de Sistemas de Exploración, y gerente de la Oficina del Programa de la Luna a Marte de la NASA en la sede de la agencia. “La seguridad de la tripulación es y seguirá siendo nuestra prioridad número uno”.

Los dirigentes de la NASA hicieron hincapié en la importancia de que todos los socios cumplan los plazos para que la agencia pueda maximizar los objetivos de vuelo con el hardware disponible en cada misión. La NASA evalúa periódicamente el progreso y los plazos como parte de la planificación programática integrada para garantizar que la agencia y sus socios puedan cumplir con éxito sus objetivos de exploración de la Luna a Marte.

Mediante Artemis, la NASA explorará la Luna más que nunca, aprenderá a vivir y trabajar lejos de nuestro hogar y se preparará para la futura exploración con seres humanos del planeta rojo. El cohete Sistema de Lanzamiento Espacial de la NASA, los sistemas terrestres de exploración y la nave Orion, junto con el sistema de aterrizaje para humanos, los trajes espaciales de nueva generación, la estación espacial lunar Gateway y los futuros vehículos exploradores son la base de la NASA para la exploración del espacio profundo.

Para más información sobre Artemis (en inglés), visita:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

-fin-

Kathryn Hambleton / Rachel Kraft
Sede, Washington
202-358-1100 / 202-365-7575
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov / rachel.h.kraft@nasa.go

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      Organ chips, also referred to as tissue chips or microphysiological systems, are roughly the size of a USB thumb drive and used to help understand — and then predict — how an individual might respond to a variety of stressors, such as radiation or medical treatments, including pharmaceuticals. Essentially, these small devices serve as “avatars” for human organs. 
      Organ chips contain living human cells that are grown to model the structures and functions of specific regions in human organs, such as the brain, lungs, heart, pancreas, and liver — they can beat like a heart, breathe like a lung, or metabolize like a liver. Tissue chips can be linked together to mimic how organs interact with each other, which is important for understanding how the whole human body responds to stressors or treatments.
      Researchers and oncologists use human tissue chips today to understand how a specific patient’s cancer might react to different drugs or radiation treatments. To date, a standard milestone for organs-on-chips has been to keep human cells healthy for 30 days. However, NASA and other research institutions are pushing these boundaries by increasing the longevity of organ chips to a minimum of six months so that scientists can observe diseases and drug therapies over a longer period.
      Bone marrow as bellwether
      The Artemis II mission will use organ chips created using blood-forming stem and progenitor cells, which originate in the bone marrow, from Artemis II crew members.
      Bone marrow is among the organs most sensitive to radiation exposure and, therefore, of central importance to human spaceflight. It also plays a vital role in the immune system, as it is the origin of all adult red and white blood cells, which is why researchers aim to understand how deep space radiation affects this organ.
      Studies have shown that microgravity affects the development of bone marrow cells. Although the International Space Station operates in low Earth orbit, which is shielded from most cosmic and solar radiation by the Earth’s magnetosphere, astronauts often experience a loss of bone density. Given that Artemis II crew will be flying beyond this protective layer, AVATAR researchers also seek to understand how the combined stressors of deep space radiation and microgravity affect the developing cells.
      To make the bone marrow organ chips, Artemis II astronauts will first donate platelets to a local healthcare system. The cells remaining from their samples will contain a small percentage of bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cells. NASA-funded scientists at Emulate, Inc., which developed the organ chip technology used in AVATAR, will purify these cells with magnetic beads that bind specifically to them. The purified cells will then be placed in the bone marrow chips next to blood vessel cells and other supporting cells to model the structure and function of the bone marrow.
      Investigating how radiation affects the bone marrow can provide insights into how radiation therapy and other DNA-damaging agents, such as chemotherapeutic drugs, impair blood cell formation. Its significance for both spaceflight and medicine on Earth makes the bone marrow an ideal organ to study in the Artemis II AVATAR project.
      Passenger for research
      “For NASA, organ chips could provide vital data for protecting astronaut health on deep space missions,” said Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences division at NASA Headquarters. “As we go farther and stay longer in space, crew will have only limited access to on-site clinical healthcare. Therefore, it’ll be critical to understand if there are unique and specific healthcare needs of each astronaut, so that we can send the right supplies with them on future missions.”
      During the Artemis II mission, the organ chips will be secured in a custom payload developed by Space Tango and mounted inside the capsule during the mission. The battery-powered payload will maintain automated environmental control and media delivery to the organ chips throughout the flight.
      For NASA, organ chips could provide vital data for protecting astronaut health on deep space missions.”
      Lisa Carnell
      Director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division
      Upon return, researchers at Emulate will examine how spaceflight affected the bone marrow chips by performing single-cell RNA sequencing, a powerful technique that measures how thousands of genes change within individual cells. The scientists will compare data from the flight samples to measurements of crew cells used in a ground-based immunology study happening simultaneously. This will provide the most detailed look at the impact of spaceflight and deep space radiation on developing blood cells to date.
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      Biological & Physical Sciences Division (BPS)

      NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.
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