The RMIT Space Physics Research Group is researching radiation shielding for spacecraft and habitats for the crewed Artemis missions to the Moon. The 1U payload, "RADICALS" (Radiation Deflector of Ionising Charges using a Lorentz Shield) consists of an electromagnetic shield and an instrument suite of sensors. Bench testing and thermal modelling of the shield have been conducted in house and the instrument suite comprised of magnetometers, Geiger counters and a GPS receiver is fully operational. The payload was launched by the Swedish Space Corporation in February 2024 on a Sub-Orbital sounding rocket to test the effectiveness of the shield at 250 km altitude above the Earth's surface, close to the magnetic pole in the Northern hemisphere. The ANTARES heavy ion irradiation beamline at the ANSTO Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS) has been used to irradiate the RADICALS device as a pre-spaceflight qualification. High-precision, high-energy proton and carbon microbeams with different energies were directed towards the electromagnetic shield inside the RADICALS payload. The high-quality data obtained at ANSTO helped to identify areas for improvement to the payload which was implemented before the rocket flight into space. Results from ANSTO and the space flight will be presented here.

Dr Gail Iles is an Associate Professor in Physics at RMIT University, and Program Manager of the BSc Space Science. After gaining a PhD in experimental physics from Leicester University in England, Gail began her scientific career with the European Space Agency in France where she researched the properties of materials on board the 'vomit comet' - a position which saw her complete over 500 parabolas in the A300 "Zero-G" Airbus. From there she became an astronaut instructor at the European Astronaut Centre training ISS Expedition crew members how to operate equipment in the Columbus laboratory. In 2014 Gail moved to Australia to work at the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation, transferring to RMIT in 2017. From 2015-2017 Gail was a visiting fellow at the Department of Nuclear Physics, ANU. Her current research interests include microgravity experiments, neutron and x-ray characterisation and instrumentation design. Gail is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics and the Science Correspondent on the 3AW Mornings with Tom Elliott radio show.