Why Would You Send Yeast into Space?

Yeast is something you probably eat every day (it's in bread!) but would you ever think about sending it into space? That's exactly what Dr. Sergio Santa Maria, the lead scientist for NASA Ames BioSentinel program is doing. BioSentinel is NASA's first biological mission beyond the Earth-Moon system. Their experiment with yeast was launched on the Artemis1 rocket and is now (and forever) flying through space. The goal is to learn how yeast is affected by deep space radiation in hopes of learning how that same radiation might affects humans. Sounds like a cool experiment, doesn't it? It is! Take a listen.