Victoria de León

When humans return to the moon, as early as 2027, one of the biggest dangers they’ll face is radiation. Since the moon contains neither a magnetic shield nor an Earth-like atmosphere, the average radiation on the surface, which originates from the sun and from deep space, is roughly 200 times greater than on Earth. Such doses, which can increase cancer risk, pose a problem for potential long-term stays. 

Astronauts inside a lunar base with walls at least 50 centimeters thick would likely be safe under normal conditions, but radiation spikes during periodic solar storms. Radiation could also seep in if a structure is damaged by tiny particles known as micrometeorites, which continuously bombard the moon’s surface. 

Victoria de León, 22, developed a material that could help warn of impending danger, giving astronauts time to relocate to a bunker or nearby spaceship that might offer more protection. Her wallpaper is designed to adorn the inside of a lunar dwelling and glow when radiation levels increase, thereby signaling that it’s time to evacuate. It could be fabricated in part from the moon’s soil. The magic ingredient, though, is a powder extracted from any insect’s exoskeleton. 

De León first experimented with bugs because they could one day be bred on the moon, potentially as a food source, and she suspected that materials derived from them could make her wallpaper more flexible. But one day in the lab, she held a powder extracted from a cricket under an ultraviolet lamp, and, to her surprise, it glowed. “It was a eureka moment,” she says. “I thought I would need another material to use as the radiation sensor, but I realized this thing worked.”

De León’s prototype, made with a replica of lunar soil, will be sent to the International Space Station in 2026, where it will undergo six months of testing in high-radiation environments. She hopes her design will help enable long-term habitation on the moon.