Two artificial female bodies, called Helga and Zohar, will be sent to the Moon. According to NASA, they travel around the Earth’s satellite and for the first time measure radiation risks to women’s bodies – before the crews fly there.

A pair of mannequins is modeled on the body of an adult woman. They will fly as part of the Artemis 1 mission, which implies that the unmanned Orion capsule will reach the Moon and back. For research, one of the mannequins will be dressed in a newly developed vest to protect against radiation.

Helga and Zohar will not be alone. They will be joined by another mannequin, which will collect data on acceleration and vibration during the flight. Artemis 1 is scheduled to be launched later this year.

According to the program, the Artemis mission is to return people to the Moon for the first time in 50 years. However, this time NASA is going to land a woman on the surface of the satellite for the first time. It is believed that women have a higher risk of exposure to cosmic radiation – so they have different levels of exposure than men. Studies have shown that women are more likely to develop cancer and that cosmic radiation can affect women’s reproductive health.