In his blockbuster 1982 novel “Space”, the writer James A. Michener wove a gripping tale of astronauts trapped on the Moon during a major solar storm. Warnings from Earth didn’t come soon enough to save them from death by radiation sickness. To avoid such a tragedy happening with the Artemis crews (and as NASA did with the Apollo crews of the past), the agency is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor solar activity. If the Sun acts up, the teams will be able to send warnings and instructions to the Artemis crews to protect them.

Human missions to the Moon are more vulnerable to space weather than astronauts on the International Space Station (who are sheltered somewhat by orbiting within Earth’s magnetosphere). A trip to the Moon takes crews outside that protective “shell” that wards off most solar radiation that poses a threat to Earth.

Space weather is caused by outbursts from the Sun such as X-class flares and coronal mass ejections. They carry a stream of highly charged particles toward Earth and out through the Solar System. The radiation from those storms is lethal to most life. If a significant solar storm occurs near the Artemis II crew, it could raise radiation levels inside their spacecraft or on the lunar surface. Too high a total lifetime exposure can contribute to increased risks of developing cancer or health disorders that could impair cognition and performance. During the Artemis II mission, NASA wants to minimize that risk. That’s why spacecraft are built to withstand some of the radiation, and why astronauts are trained to “hide away” during intense storms.

Protecting the Crew From Solar Outbursts

The energetic particles that stream from the Sun during an outburst travel through space on the solar wind. Ultimately, the swarm can overtake the spacecraft from all directions, swamping it with radiation. “It’s more like you’re sitting in a bathtub and it’s gradually filling with water,” said Stuart George, a space radiation analyst at NASA Johnson.

Fortunately, the “swarm” doesn’t happen all at once. It takes time for the ejected particles to travel from the Sun to Earth, giving the observation teams and the astronauts time to plan. Plus, the spacecraft are “hardened” to some extent. For example, the Orion capsule carries radiation sensors as part of an assessment system. They measure the radiation doses and dose rates in different parts of the ship. The astronauts also wear radiation dosimeters that measure the dosage as they work. If something happens, and a high amount of radiation is detected, onboard alarms call their attention to the event and they can take steps to monitor the situation closely. If the radiation is too strong, the as tronauts will be prompted to take shelter.

So, let’s imagine that the alarms sound and it’s bad enough that the crew has to take action. The astronauts need to be “behind” walls thick enough to slow the charged particles down or stop them completely. That’s why the crew is trained to reconfigure the environment inside the capsule. They remove stowed equipment and other materials from storage bays and use it to add mass between themselves and incoming particles. The Artemis II crew in particular will be testing this procedure during the upcoming mission. “Once crews add mass to the places that tend to be hotter in terms of radiation exposure, they can then continue to go about their duties,” George said.

Using Data from Solar Probes

The Sun is particularly active these days, and observers are carefully monitoring its sunspot activity for signs of future outbursts. Those events can be pretty strong and complex. The NASA/NOAA teams will be using data from various probes around the system. These include such Sun-watching spacecraft strategically placed across the solar system, such as NASA’s recently launched Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-19 satellite, and many others. In addition, the Mars Perseverance rover will get a glimpse of the far side of the Sun and watch space weather outbursts from the side of the Sun invisible to Earth during the Artemis II mission.

*NASA’s Perseverance Rover captured these images of sunspots crossing the Sun from its vantage point on the Martian surface between February 24 – 27, 2026. Mars is currently on the opposite side of the Sun, giving the rover a view of sunspots not visible from Earth. Perseverance will monitor sunspots leading up to and during the Artemis II launch window, giving the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office (M2M SWAO) and Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) teams advance notice of regions that could produce solar eruptions before they rotate onto the Earth-facing side of the Sun. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI*

Outbursts from the Sun aren’t the only radiation hazards the Artemis astronauts will face. As they leave Earth, they’ll pass through the Van Allen Radiation Belts, which pose a threat. In addition, cosmic rays can also deliver radiation hits to astronauts in space. Together, the radiation exposure from these sources is expected to be comparable to a 1-month stay on the International Space Station, or about 5% of an astronaut’s career limit. Any exposure from solar radiation events would add to this baseline.

So, unlike the unlucky astronauts of Michener’s dramatic book, the Artemis astronauts should have a wealth of information available to them well in advance of solar outbursts that could send clouds of charged particles their way. The Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office, based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, will continuously assess solar activity and any eruptions that occur. The team will send its analysis to the Space Radiation Analysis Group, based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Together, their forecasts and those from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, plus real-time measurements from inside the Orion spacecraft will inform recommendations for the flight control team.

For More Information

To Protect Artemis II Astronauts, NASA Experts Keep Eyes on Sun

Artemis Mission

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for governor of California, has accused President Trump of trying to sway the election following reports that FBI Director Kash Patel may release documents from a decade-old investigation into the congressman’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Patel has directed agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to redact the case files for public release. According to the outlet, it’s highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.

The investigation centered on Swalwell’s ties to a suspected intelligence operative, Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, who worked as a volunteer raising money for his congressional campaign. Swalwell cut off ties to Fang in 2015, after intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate the legislative body.

Swalwell was not accused of impropriety.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,” Swalwell said in a prepared statement Saturday, calling the decade-old story “nonsense.”

“Donald Trump is targeting me. He’s trying to influence the election,” Swalwell said in a post on X. “There is only one reason why: he’s scared.”

Swalwell accused Trump of “desperately trying” to stop him, because he’s now the favored candidate for California governor.

“What Trump wants the most is to have a Western White House. An enabler on the opposite coast,” he said. “A lot of people have bent the knee to this administration. But I will not. And neither will the people of California.”

It’s not the first time Swalwell has accused the administration of targeting Trump’s political opponents.

Last year, Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, accusing him of criminally misusing government databases to target Trump’s political opponents. Pulte had accused Swalwell of mortgage fraud and referred him to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal probe. Swalwell dropped that suit this month.

Swalwell, a former prosecutor who ran for president in 2020, announced his bid for California governor in November. Swalwell said his decision was driven by the serious problems facing California and the threats posed to the state and nation with Trump in the White House.

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who has endorsed Swalwell for governor, shared the Post story on X Saturday, saying, “This abuse of the FBI is as dangerous as it is unlawful.” Schiff served with Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee, where they riled Republicans by investigating President Trump during his first term.

Schiff served as the lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment and Swalwell as a manager of Trump’s second impeachment.

“Time and again, the President and his appointees have weaponized the Department of Justice against those who dare stand up to Trump,” Schiff wrote. He added that there was no doubt that Trump and Patel “will stop at nothing to try to tell Californians who their next governor should be.”

The Post story unleashed a flood of critiques from California politicians, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. On X, Gomez accused Patel of “wasting resources” on a “closed, decade-old case where Swalwell cooperated with the FBI and was found innocent of any wrongdoing.”

“Reopening it now, right as he leads in the polls and ballots are about to drop, is a political hit-job!” Gomez said. “Trump and Kash Patel are weaponizing the FBI against people they deem political enemies.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement accusing Patel of working at “the behest of the White House” and “wasting the resources of the FBI and perhaps violating the Hatch Act by ordering agents to spend hours preparing a political smear file for a personnel vendetta.”

According to the Associated Press, Fang came into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns — and briefed Congress — about Fang in 2015, at which point the California Democrat says he cut off contact with her, the AP reported in 2021.

In 2023, the House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into the allegations of his ties to Fang.

In closing the probe, the ethics committee wrote in a letter to Swalwell that it had “previously reviewed allegations of improper influence by foreign agents and in doing so, cautioned that Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions.”

Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Kevin Rector contributed to this report.