Episode 6 might confirm my theory (spoilers)

All along I've had a theory that the aliens are suffering from some kind of disease, which accounts for a bunch of things: the environment suits, the bioprocessing on the moon base, the people who get sick on the moon base, the fact that the aliens are so dependent on either drones or humans to do everything for them and so on.

The tech cell guy who gets sick after extensive handling of the artifact may be evidence of it. The doctor called it radiation poisoning, but I think this is just the writers giving intentional misdirection on the cause, plus if its an alien disease it may present symptoms the doctor isn't familiar with or are similar to other known causes.