In April 2026, four astronauts flew around the moon and back on NASA’s Artemis II mission.
It was the first time in more than 50 years that humans have travelled to the vicinity of the moon. Since Apollo 17 in 1972, all human spaceflight missions have remained in Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station.
Singaporean Lalita Devi Arjun Singh was part of the team that developed a health monitoring kit used during this historic and incredibly high-stakes mission.
As project manager at United States science and technology company Leidos, she co-led her five-member team along with a NASA staff member to create a dry saliva collection kit used to analyse stress and immune system function in astronauts during the mission.
The Artemis II crew used the kit to collect samples six times during the 10-day mission, Lalita told CNA Women.
“This helps scientists understand how the crew’s bodies react differently during space travel when experiencing microgravity in a confined space, and to develop countermeasures to protect astronauts’ health and prevent illness for future long missions to the moon, Mars and beyond,” she explained.
In 2024, Lalita also helped develop suited nutrition and hydration contingency pouches that contain chocolate and vanilla powder.
These are used in contingency situations like sudden pressure drop, which can reduce the amount of oxygen available to the body. Astronauts would have to suit up to protect themselves during such events, and cannot consume food normally.
Pressure drop can happen because of spacecraft leaks, micro-meteoroid strikes – which occur when tiny particles of rock or dust moving at extremely high speeds puncture the spacecraft – or equipment failure.
