By BlueShift | 2025-10-14

The four astronauts taking part in NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission to the moon will participate in a number of studies to help scientists learn more about human health in space before, during and after their voyage.

NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen will begin their 10-day flight around the moon in April.

The Artemis II mission seeks to expand human knowledge in the areas of space science and lunar geography, with astronauts also participating in experiments that aim to shed light on how the human body may change in space.

Studies will examine how deep space travel influences the human body, mind and behavior.

This research aims to inform future space travel by identifying better ways to keep astronauts healthy during physically demanding missions, which subject them to a varied array of stressors they do not experience on Earth.

"Previous research has shown that spaceflight missions can weaken the immune system, reactivate dormant viruses in astronauts, and put the health of the crew at risk," according to NASA.

The Artemis II health studies "will help the agency build future interventions, protocols, and preventative measures to best protect astronauts on future missions to the lunar surface and to Mars," it said.

Astronaut health and performance

The Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness study (ARCHeR) will monitor how deep space travel affects sleep, stress, cognition and teamwork.

These are key factors in astronaut health and performance, per NASA, but have not yet been fully studied during lunar missions.

Participating astronauts will wear wristband devices that continuously monitor movement and sleep patterns throughout the mission, both for real-time health monitoring and safety assessments and pre- and post-flight evaluations, it said.

Crew members began to provide blood, urine and saliva samples six months ahead of the launch.

Tests and surveys will evaluate their nutritional status, cardiovascular health, immunological and vestibular (inner ear, balance) function, as well as their muscle performance, changes in their microbiome, ocular and brain health.

"While in space, data gathering will include an assessment of motion sickness symptoms," according to NASA.

"After landing, there will be additional tests of head, eye, and body movements, among other functional performance tasks. Data collection will continue for a month after their return," it said.

Researchers will use saliva samples collected from the astronauts before, during and after the mission to look at how the astronauts’ immune systems are affected by the increased stresses of radiation, isolation and distance from Earth.

"They also will examine whether otherwise dormant viruses are reactivated in space, as has been seen previously on the International Space Station with viruses that can cause chickenpox and shingles," according to NASA.

Avatars for human organs

A study called AVATAR will use organ chips, also known as tissue chips, to simulate each astronaut’s bone marrow and study the effects of deep space radiation and microgravity on human health.

Bone marrow is among the organs most sensitive to radiation exposure and plays a vital role in the immune system.

The chips serve as "avatars" for human organs, and 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.

AVATAR is a collaborative effort involving NASA, various government agencies, and industry partners, including space health and technology companies Space Tango and Emulate.

"The findings are expected to provide vital insights for future missions to destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including Mars," said aerospace engineer Laurie Abadie of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"The lessons we learn from this crew will help us to more safely accomplish deep space missions and research."

-- Bethany Lee contributed to this article.