On June 15, 2021 at 4:07 pm, the first mouse was placed near the end of Hope College’s Tandem Van de Graaf particle accelerator to receive a small dose of neutron radiation amounting to ~1/15th of a daily radiation dose if the mice were on the Moon. To study the effects of low dose radiation, Neuroscience students Parker and Corine will look for behavioral changes of mice over time. Three minutes later at 4:10 pm, Forest operates the accelerator remotely and starts the simulated space radiation. The space radiation is created in a reaction involving the 3.4 MeV proton beam and a Lithium Fluoride crystal.
