Common Questions

What is DLR and what do they do on the Artemis mission?

DLR is Germany's national aerospace research agency. On Artemis II it provided the M-42 EXT radiation sensors aboard Orion, which have six times the measurement resolution of the Artemis I hardware and are collecting crew dose data in real time.Source: NASA / DLR

How much radiation are the Artemis II astronauts getting?

DLR's M-42 EXT sensors are recording continuous dose data, but NASA published zero public readings as the crew reached maximum distance from Earth on 6 April 2026, the mission's highest-radiation point.Source: Artemis II mission updates

What European countries are involved in the Artemis Moon programme?

Germany (via DLR) provided radiation sensors on Orion. ESA and several other European nations are Artemis Accords signatories with varying hardware contributions across the programme.

Background

DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) is Germany's national aeronautics and space research agency, with its M-42 EXT radiation dosimetry sensors flying aboard Orion on Artemis II. The sensors deliver six times the measurement resolution of the hardware flown on Artemis I, providing crew radiation dose data continuously as the spacecraft transited beyond the Moon to its maximum distance from Earth.

DLR is one of Europe's largest space research institutions, operating across aeronautics, space, energy, and transport. Its role in Artemis II represents Germany's most prominent contribution to the US-led lunar programme, providing hardware that monitors one of the mission's primary physiological risks: deep-space radiation exposure at distances where Earth's protective magnetosphere offers no shielding.

The M-42 EXT data are generating a politically uncomfortable gap: despite sensors working continuously, NASA published zero public dose readings as the crew reached the mission's highest-radiation point. DLR's hardware is collecting the data; the question of what NASA chooses to release is a separate matter.

How the World Sees Them

NASA

Values DLR's dosimetry capability as a mission science asset; has not explained why sensor data has not been published during the mission.

Germany

Views DLR's M-42 EXT sensors as a flagship hardware contribution to Artemis, demonstrating European relevance in deep-space human spaceflight.

Space science community

The data silence is noted: high-resolution radiation readings from the farthest human spaceflight would be scientifically significant regardless of crew safety implications.