When Artemis II moved beyond the protective cocoon of Earth’s magnetosphere, it carried astronauts beyond a boundary not crossed in more than half a century. For the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, a crew are spending days exposed to deep-space radiation, testing spacecraft systems, and our ability to anticipate and manage the Sun’s more dangerous moods.
Space-weather events are low-probability, high-impact hazards. Forecasting radiation storms — spikes in solar energetic particles (SEPs) — remains limited and warning times can be short, sometimes hours.1 Unlike many engineering risks, radiation cannot be designed away; it must be monitored, forecast and managed in real time.
That monitoring depends on a global observing network tracking solar activity, particle levels and Earth’s magnetic response across longitudes and latitudes, including the Southern Hemisphere.
Africa contributes through ground-based observatories that feed international networks tracking how solar disturbances evolve and how radiation conditions shift as energetic particles move through near-Earth and interplanetary space. These observations inform global models used to estimate radiation exposure risk during crewed missions.
To prepare for Artemis-era exploration, agencies have also run operational exercises that treat solar activity as a mission variable, testing how forecasts shape decisions when crews are outside Earth’s magnetosphere.2
Africa’s role rarely features in public narratives around lunar exploration. Yet its geography and participation in global observing networks help sustain the measurements that make forecasting possible — and will remain part of the infrastructure needed for longer missions in deep space.