Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, NASA’s director of space weather: ‘The main risk to astronauts is radiation’

Since launching into space, the four astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission have been in an environment where Earth’s weather is no longer relevant. The four crew members now live under the constant threat of space weather. This means, above all, that they depend on what might happen on the Sun, a sometimes unpredictable giant currently at its peak activity. The star can spew out flares and winds laden with radioactive particles that could be extremely dangerous for the passengers of the Orion spacecraft, which is traveling to the Moon at over 2,400 miles per hour.

Theoretical physicist Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, born in Alcobendas, on the outskirts of Madrid, heads the space climatology office at NASA, known as the Moon to Mars Weather Analysis Unit. Her main task at this office at the Goddard Space Flight Center, where she oversees a team of seven analysts, is to monitor solar flares and issue early warnings of dangerous events.

Her unit works in coordination with the space radiation team at mission control in Houston and with the chief physician of the Artemis 2 mission, to whom she reports the radiation doses astronauts may be exposed to. In cases of serious danger, mission plans could be modified to prevent serious harm to the astronauts.

The Spanish physicist joined NASA in 2006 and never looked back. It just so happens that the house where she lived with his parents is almost next door to the family home of Eduardo García Llama, one of the chief engineers of the Artemis 2 mission. The two met at university, and now they run crucial services enabling humanity’s return to the Moon after more than 50 years.

Question. What is your main role at NASA?

Answer. The guiding principle behind our work is to support any mission anywhere in the solar system, wherever it may be. We are pioneers because these are unexplored regions where the effects of space weather are unknown.

Q. How can you predict the weather in space?

A. We continuously monitor the Sun in 360 degrees. We primarily watch for explosions, known as flares, which are the events that produce the most radiation, as well as coronal mass ejections and fast solar wind shocks. When these events occur, our models calculate their potential effects, especially the amount of radiation that the Artemis 2 astronauts might receive, and we use this information to send out alerts. We also monitor it with a network of ground-based observatories and satellites. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission is currently the only one that allows us to know what is happening on the far side of the Sun.

Q. What is the main risk for astronauts?

A. Radiation. Depending on the calculated doses, we have protocols in place for astronauts to protect themselves from a hazardous event using the shelter on the Orion spacecraft. This is the same procedure we already follow for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Q. What’s the current situation?

A. Recently, before the launch of Artemis 2, there was one of the most intense energetic particle events in decades. However, this event did not cross the threshold at which we would issue a human alert. Something like that could happen in these 10 days, but the probability is not high. We know about four days in advance if there are active regions to monitor. We are 100% prepared for Artemis 2. Our role is to produce that analysis and deliver it as quickly as possible. I can tell you that my analysts are very well trained. They are the best.

Q. Does the service collaborate with other countries?

A. We are a U.S. government service, alerting the entire country to dangerous events. From a scientific standpoint, we do collaborate closely, especially with the European team of the Solar Orbiter mission [a European Space Agency probe with NASA participation]. The scientists responsible for each of the instruments on this mission are giving us their data as quickly as possible so that we can use it in our predictions of what will happen throughout the solar system.

Q. What dangers come with future lunar landings and the creation of inhabited colonies?

A. We’re going to places where humans have never been, and to develop technology for places where humans aren’t used to living. We don’t know what that environment will be like. We need to understand, for example, how the Moon behaves under different weather conditions. Artemis 2 is a 10-day mission, but in Artemis 4, in 2028, astronauts will go down to the lunar surface to develop infrastructure. The astronauts and their robots will be exposed to conditions completely different from those on Earth. There’s no atmosphere on the Moon, and dramatic changes occur. The wheels of the vehicles can become electrically charged; there are ionization events whose effects we don’t yet know. We need scientists to investigate all of this to develop our operating protocols and send alerts to the astronauts.

Q. We’re going to the Moon as a step toward reaching Mars. What challenges will we face there?

A. We don’t have as much technology there, but we’re already preparing. Especially to understand how its thin atmosphere changes during intense weather events. Unpredictable dust storms happen on Mars. They can have a very serious impact, for example, if an astronaut is working on the surface. They can completely lose their bearings. Space weather can ionize the dust and make it more harmful. All of this is yet to be explored, and it’s very interesting.

Q. What is needed to improve current weather forecasts?

A. First, real-time data. It already exists, and at NASA, it’s always publicly available. It’s a mandate from the agency and Congress. But often, even U.S. missions don’t provide real-time data. It takes time, and that affects us. We don’t need the data to be completely clean. It’s useful if it helps us understand what’s happening around the spacecraft.

Furthermore, the Moon is largely unknown from an operational standpoint. We need a new probe that will give us more information about what is happening at any given moment in the area from an altitude of about 40 kilometers [24.9 miles] down to the lunar surface.

Q. You say that the people who are studying at university now will be the engineers and scientists who take humanity to Mars. What advice would you give them?

A. Learn a lot, well, and quickly. Above all, I like to nurture curiosity. And we are entering a stage in humanity that will be exciting for human exploration.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition