The specially trained astronaut Shaun the Sheep has been assigned a seat on the Artemis I mission to the Moon. This series of ESA blog posts covers Shaun’s training and preparations leading up to launch.

Astronauts on space missions have to be ‘Jacks-of-all-trades’ (or Jills). Shaun the Sheep is no exception and, like any space traveller, he was trained with the astronauts’ toolbox of knowledge for the first Artemis mission. This included life and physical sciences in ‘weightless’ conditions, engineering and medical skills, as well as orbital mechanics and survival training. 

Hands-on European science 

To learn how to monitor all the experiments and keep a space lab running, astronauts from around the world receive hands-on (or hoofs-on) training in mockups at the European Astronaut Centre – the home-base for European astronauts in Cologne, Germany.  

Science on for Shaun the Sheep. Credits: ESA/Aardman-SJM Photography

The centre has a variety of training tools and facilities to support crew training. Astronauts can rehearse normal operations, learn to recover from malfunctions and practice to replace faulty equipment on board.  

Shaun the Sheep was trained in a full-size mock-up of the Columbus laboratory. Columbus is Europe’s largest contribution to the International Space Station. Since 2008, this multifunctional module has been producing a wealth of scientific data across a range of disciplines.  

The ESA training team in Cologne put Shaun through his paces, getting him to know every corner of Europe’s Columbus lab as a good basis for the Artemis I mission.  

Hoofs-on training for science. Credits: ESA/Aardman-SJM Photography

Radiation ride 

There will be more passengers from Europe sharing the lunar ride with Shaun the Sheep. Their names are Helga and Zohar and their female-shaped, plastic bodies are filled with over 5600 sensors each to measure the radiation load during their trip around the Moon. 

Cosmic radiation is considered the main health hazard for any living thing – humans or animals – on exploration missions. Far away from the protection of Earth’s magnetic field, the radiation doses could be up to 700 times higher than on our planet. 

Shaun will endure the radiation dose of the Artemis I lunar flyby with the radiation sisters Helga and Zohar. Around 5600 tiny crystals are distributed within each mannequin to help map the radiation impact within the body. Similar dummies are used in hospitals to quantify the right dose of radiation for cancer therapies. 

Assembling Helga. Credits: DLR

A set of European sensors is also riding on the Orion capsule to map the radiation environment. These ESA Active Dosimeters will allow scientists to see as accurately as possible how the radiation fluctuates during the mission. 

Radiation research in space is nothing new, and this has always been a challenge for human exploration. Away from our planet, cosmic radiation could increase the risk of cancer and trigger degenerative diseases. 

With the help of Shaun the Sheep and the lunar twins, ESA wants to protect the health of future crews on their way to the Moon and beyond.