In 2020, NASA will send live objects into space for the first time since Apollo

NASA is preparing to launch live creatures in deep space for the first time in nearly five decades.

Agency engineers are developing a space vehicle the size of a case. BioSentinel, which will transport yeast cells into orbit around the sun to help scientists better understand the radiation environment beyond the protective magnetic bubble of our planet.

BioSentinel is one of 13 cubesats Fly aboard the Artemis 1 mission, currently targeted for mid-2020. It's 47.5 years after NASA's last launch of organisms beyond the low Earth orbit – the Apollo 17 astronauts, arrived on the moon in December 1972 (finally, it is the last organisms launched on purpose, anyway, some robust microbes settle during each global robotic mission.)

Related: Lunar Legacy: 45 Photos of the Apollo Moon Mission

But Apollo 17 lasted less than two weeks. BioSentinel will collect data over a period of nine to twelve months, opening a window to the long-term effects of far-field radiation on DNA and DNA repair.

"It's a new territory," said Kimberly Ennico Smith, an astrophysicist at NASA's Ames Research Center, during a tour of Silicon Valley facilities last March.

(Image: © Mike Wall / Space.com)

Ames is the base of BioSentinel. Indeed, the visit included several short briefings by the mission staff and gave a glimpse of the cubesat partially assembled (behind a window, of course – without touching the material of the space).

The 30 lbs (14 kilograms) satellite will carry two different varieties of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: the normal "wild type", quite resistant to radiation, and the mutant type, much more sensitive because it can not repair its DNA almost as well.

The members of the BioSentinel team will monitor the growth and activity of both varieties during the time that cubesat will occupy in space. They will do the same thing with identical yeast loads transported to the International Space Station, a microgravity environment with much lower levels of radiation.

Scientists will also follow S. cerevisiae Ennico Smith said: "Ames and Brookhaven National Laboratory" in the state of New York. In Brookhaven, scientists will expose yeast to a highly irradiated environment. Taken together, the data collection should help the team determine which effects are due to radiation and which result from microgravity or other factors.

S. cerevisiae is a good model organization for this work, said members of the BioSentinel team.

"It's important to note that the process of repairing DNA damage from yeast is very similar to that of humans, making it a robust translation model," wrote officials from The NASA. BioSentinel information sheet. "BioSentinel's results will be critical in interpreting the effects of radiation exposure in space, reducing the risk associated with long-term human exploration, and validating existing models of radiation." spatial radiation effects on living organisms. "

BioSentinel is assembling: the cubesat must be completed by the end of October, mission team members said during the Ames tour. Next is pre-launch preparation and integration into NASA Space launch system (SLS) megarocket, who will be flying for the first time on Artemis 1.

NASA is developing the SLS to transport people and payloads to distant destinations like the Moon and Mars. The rocket is a key part of NASA's long-term vision, with a crew capsule called Orion.

This craft is the main payload of the Artemis 1 flight, previously known as Exploration Mission-1. (NASA recently changed the name to match that of the agency new lunar exploration program with crew.) SLS will launch Orion on an unprepared ride around the moon, as part of a performance test on both the rocket and the capsule.

If all goes well, the next flight of the duo – Artemis 2, in 2023 – will be a crewed mission that will send four astronauts around the moon.

Artemis 2 will be launched one year after the beginning of the first piece of NASA's small space station in lunar orbit. This outpost, which the agency calls the bridge, will be at the heart of Artemis' global vision and serve as a starting point for crewed and unprepared lunar outings.

Much scientific work will also be done on the bridge – including, one can infer, more research on the effects of radiation on living systems.

"We should have many more of these experiences [like BioSentinel] on the bridge, "said Ennico Smith.

The other 12 cubesats flying aboard Artemis 1 are a diversified lot. For example, Lunar Flashlight and Lunar IceCube missions will search for ice in the Moon, while the Earth Asteroid will use a solar sail to reach a space rock.

Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.