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# VCU professor's research could shield moon-bound astronauts from radiation
- URL: https://www.richmonder.org/vcu-professors-research-could-shield-moon-bound-astronauts-from-radiation/
- Published: 2026-10-23T00:04:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:04:06.000Z
- Description: Space is brutal. It’s full of bombastic supernovas and the invisible radiation that ensues. Astronauts must rely on their equipment and their spacesuits to protect them from worlds they never evolved to survive.
- Author: Lauren Hines-Acosta
- Tags: Local News

Space is brutal. It’s full of bombastic supernovas and the invisible radiation that ensues. 

In transit, neutron radiation can disrupt an astronaut's DNA. They must rely on their equipment and their spacesuits to protect them from worlds they never evolved to survive.

Arvind Agarwal, mechanical and nuclear engineering chair and professor at VCU, hopes his research will help protect astronauts as they head for the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis missions.

NASA plans on returning humans to the moon by early 2028 during the Artemis IV mission. But the agency needs a lunar spacesuit upgrade, said Sara Rengifo, project manager with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The agency’s current spacesuits, like the ones used on the International Space Station, aren’t designed for the moon’s surface and its dust, called regolith.

Rengifo and her team submitted a proposal to NASA in 2019 to improve equipment and spacesuit wear resistance for the upcoming Artemis missions. She chose Agarwal as her academic partner.

The project first focused on making a protective coating for metal pieces that could be subject to the moon or Mars’ environments, such as parts used in lunar rovers. But the project expanded into making coatings for spacesuits as well. 

The coating’s key ingredient is boron nitride. Boron is very effective at absorbing radiation. Neutron radiation begins when stars and supernova create energized particles. These particles knock out neutrons from an atom’s nucleus. These stray neutrons then hit a special boron atom. Boron is then eaten up and converted into a lithium atom and a helium atom.

That means the disruptive neutron never reaches the human. Astronauts will have to switch out their spacesuit once the coating’s lifespan ends, the timing of which Agarwal and other research teams are trying to determine. 

“I think all these coatings can bring a lot of solutions for the moon base that right now NASA envisions to start working on. So, we'll see what happens,” Rengifo said.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/CoatingMetal.JPG)

Arvind Agarwal's protective coating has been applied to the metal piece on the right. (Lauren Hines-Acosta)

To coat metals, Agarwal must shoot the mixture at two times the speed of sound, like a bug stuck on a windshield. Simply melting the mixture on metal won’t work, because the heat would change the coating’s atomic structure. The application on fabric is gentler by just dipping the fabric into the honey-like coating. 

Rengifo and Agarwal have tested the coating in their respective labs, throwing dust, radiation, ultraviolet rays and temperature swings at the materials. But it’s hard to replicate space in a lab. So NASA is sending samples of the materials to the International Space Station as a test run. 

In low-Earth orbit at about 100 to 350 miles above sea level, Earth’s protective atmosphere begins to thin and break down oxygen into particles that can erode exposed material. Scientists will see if the coating cracks under these moderate conditions compared to the moon, which has no atmosphere. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/Arvind.jpg)

VCU professor Arvind Agarwal dips fabric in a polydimethylsiloxane boron nitride slurry. (VCU College of Engineering)

Agarwal, who is quick to smile with black-framed glasses, compares his work to cooking as he tries to find the right mix of ingredients not usually found in a pantry: boron nitride, titanium and silicone. He must find the right balance of radiation protection, durability and flexibility for the spacesuit fabric. And he has few chances to test it for real.

“All those things in the lab we did, they came out very good, as per expectation, and that's why we sent them to space,” Agarwal said. “There's only one data point I have. I think that's the biggest challenge.”

Rengifo said this material could be used for the Artemis IV mission, but there is a lot more testing to do. Even if it breaks on the station, she said, it’ll give them useful insights.

“It's not like we're going to apply this tomorrow, but we are moving science ahead,” Rengifo said.

Even though his work has reached the stars, Agarwal is most proud of his students. He sings their praises as he admires a group picture of him and his students labeled “dream team” on his office wall.

“(My students) are so mesmerized and they feel so happy, and when you see those careers growing, I think that's the biggest reward,” Agarwal said.

He will see how their work has paid off after his samples splash down in February.

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