Active · Partial success
NASA’s BioSentinel CubeSat flew past the Moon into solar orbit to investigate deep-space radiation. Its biological experiment did not detect yeast growth, while its radiation detector continued operating during an extended mission.
- Launch vehicle
- SLS Block 1
- Launch site
- Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39B, Florida
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Flyby, Heliophysics, Technology demonstrator
Chronology
Mission timeline
Deployment
BioSentinel separated from the ICPS
The later navigation paper prints 2023 in tables 7–8; its actual-flight narrative and table 9, and the earlier flight paper table 1, explicitly establish 2022.
EarthMilestone
Emergency contact commanded renewed rate reduction
Reported start of the DSS-14 contact; this is not an exact thruster start/stop epoch or a measured burn vector.
EarthMilestone
Ground contact confirmed that tumbling had stopped
Ground-confirmation time; no exact spacecraft detumble completion instant is inferred.
EarthMilestone
Solar-array deployment recorded during the DSS-14 pass
The flight paper describes deployment of two more panels; the slide gives the pass start, not the exact hardware actuation instant.
EarthFlyby
BioSentinel passed the Moon
The postflight navigation report gives a periselene altitude of approximately 406 km. Its minimum radius and chosen lunar reference radius require source review before use as a numerical bound.
MoonMilestone
First biological experiment began
The reported contact initiated the first experiment; the subsequent lack of yeast growth is distinct from continued radiation measurements.
Sun
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- BioSentinel: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · tracking-derived Horizons arcs through August 31, 2026 · predicted continuation omitted · November 16, 2022 to August 31, 2026
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 4, 2026
- Flight Dynamics and Navigation of the BioSentinel Mission — NASAPaper · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- BioSentinel: Mission Summary and Lessons Learned — flight paper, SSC23-I-02 — NASAPaper · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- BioSentinel mission summary presentation — flight tracker, slide 14 — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- What is BioSentinel? — three-year mission update, November 21, 2025 — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- BioSentinel Horizons source identity and tracking/prediction boundary, revised September 30, 2026 — JPLEphemeris · Supports: mission claims
- BioSentinel — current mission status — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- BioSentinel Deep Space Mission — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Artemis I Reference Guide — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Artemis I — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Our Sun: Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context