Space sciences and astronomy
31 Mar 2026
Legged robot could accelerate resource prospecting on the Moon and the search for life on Mars
What if future planetary robots did not have to wait for instructions from Earth before examining every rock?
47 news posts in Space sciences and astronomy
Space sciences and astronomy
01 Sep 2025
Circle versus rectangle: finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape
Guest editorial by Prof Heidi Newberg, an astrophysicist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and author of a new Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences article
Space sciences and astronomy
25 Feb 2025
Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars
Scientists successfully identify microbe fossils in terrestrial rocks like those found on Mars, opening up the possibility of searching for fossils on the Red Planet.
Space sciences and astronomy
06 Feb 2025
Efforts to find alien life could be boosted by simple test that gets microbes moving
Scientists explored microbial movement as a possible biosignature to detect life on Mars and beyond, cheaper and faster than ever before.
Space sciences and astronomy
03 Feb 2025
Can ocean-floor mining oversights help us regulate space debris and mining on the Moon?
Space belongs to no-one, yet many nations and private entities now plan to lay their claim on its resources. In a recent Frontiers in Space Technologies article, Nishith Mishra, Martina Elia Vitoloni and Dr Joseph Pelton shared their thoughts about how plans to exploit the ocean floors could impact the way resources from space are used and managed.
Space sciences and astronomy
20 Nov 2024
Astronauts found to process some tasks slower in space, but no signs of permanent cognitive decline
Researchers found that astronauts’ processing speed, working memory, and attention slowed down, but a few months in space did not result in lasting cognitive impairment
Space sciences and astronomy
12 Jul 2024
Real-life ‘stillsuit’: Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water
Existing waste management systems for spacesuits are uncomfortable, unhygienic, and don’t recycle valuable water in urine. Now, researchers from Cornell University have designed a prototype for an integrated urine collection and recycling system, which can be carried on the back of next-generation spacesuits. The system is now ready for testing.
Space sciences and astronomy
10 Jul 2024
Spectacular auroras are caused by head-on blows to Earth’s magnetic field that could damage critical infrastructure
Scientists find that interplanetary shocks which strike Earth’s magnetic field head-on cause more powerful ground-level electric currents, threatening pipelines and submarine cables.
Space sciences and astronomy
21 Jun 2024
Heart failure in space: scientists calculate potential health threats facing future space tourists in microgravity
In a recent Frontiers in Physiology article, Dr Lex van Loon and his co-authors used a mathematical model of the heart and lung system to simulate how microgravity could affect people, who are not trained astronauts and might have underlying health issues such as heart conditions, as they go to space.
Space sciences and astronomy
25 Mar 2024
Why scientists are making space data into sounds
Images from telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope have expanded the way we see space. But what if you can’t see? Can stars be turned into sounds instead?
Space sciences and astronomy
08 Feb 2024
Why studying astronauts’ microbiomes is crucial to ensure deep space mission success
In a new Frontiers’ guest editorial, Prof Dr Lembit Sihver and his co-authors explore the impact the microbiome has on human health in space. They also discuss potential applications as well as challenges of the study of the microbiome of astronauts.
Space sciences and astronomy
03 Nov 2023
Wearable devices may prevent astronauts getting ‘lost’ in space
by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Losing your sense of where you are can be fatal enough for aircraft pilots: spatial disorientation is a leading cause of fatal aircraft accidents. But losing your orientation in space itself is even more dangerous. Scientists have now developed wearable devices called vibrotactors that, combined with specialized training, improve people’s ability to fight spatial disorientation and could help astronauts correct themselves when their perceptions can no longer be relied upon. The sky is no longer the limit — but taking flight is dangerous. In leaving the Earth’s surface, we lose many of the cues we need to orient ourselves, and that spatial disorientation can be deadly. Astronauts normally need intensive training to protect against it. But scientists have now found that wearable devices which vibrate to give orientation cues may boost the efficacy of this training significantly, making spaceflight slightly safer. “Long duration spaceflight will cause many physiological and psychological stressors which will make astronauts very susceptible to spatial disorientation,” said Dr Vivekanand P. Vimal of Brandeis University in the United States, lead author of the article in Frontiers in Physiology. “When disoriented, an astronaut will no longer be able to rely […]
Space sciences and astronomy
16 Aug 2023
Sustainability in space travel can aid efforts here on Earth
by Angelo Vermeulen/Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: E|A|S (Evolving Asteroid Starships)/Joris Putteneers Dr Angelo Vermeulen is a space systems researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he explores advanced concepts for interstellar exploration. Over the past decade, he has collaborated closely with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) MELiSSA program, developing concepts for bioregenerative life support systems for space. In such systems, a variety of microorganisms progressively break down human waste and the resulting compounds are harnessed by plants to produce oxygen and food for the crew. Beyond his scientific pursuits, Dr Vermeulen is also an accomplished artist and a co-founder of the SEADS (Space Ecologies Art and Design) collective. SEADS creates artworks that seamlessly integrate concepts and technologies from a diverse array of scientific disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, computer science, and astrophysics. He is the author of a recently published Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences article in which he and his co-authors describe a new model that theoretically produces all required food and oxygen during long-duration and remote space missions, removing the necessity for resupply from Earth. In this latest entry to the Frontier Scientists series, he has caught up with us on his current […]
Space sciences and astronomy
13 Mar 2023
Why understanding human evolution on Earth will be absolutely essential for any future deep-space colonies to survive and thrive
By Lee G Irons, Norfolk Institute, and Morgan A Irons, Cornell University Photo of Lee and Morgan, Credit: Lee Irons and Morgan Irons Is human migration into space inevitable? Is it based on facts, or is it based upon a belief in human exceptionalism? These are some of the questions explored by Lee and Morgan Irons in a recent article published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, asking whether humans’ evolutionary connection to Earth requires us to inhabit space the same way we do here. Lee is a physicist, engineer, and the executive director of Norfolk Institute. Morgan is an astro-ecologist and PhD candidate at Cornell University, a Carl Sagan Institute Fellow, a US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a Norfolk Institute Fellow. In this latest guest editorial, they explain why – and why not – space settlement might be possible. How can such a feat be accomplished? Is it just a matter of leveraging the resources of a billionaire and the capital power of the economically developed Earth to ship the materials to Mars to build a city with a dome, followed by pressurizing the dome with an Earth-like atmosphere, and spreading biosolids (ie, sterilized human […]
Space sciences and astronomy
10 Feb 2023
Five articles you need to check out on the future of astronomy and astrophysics
By Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com From uncovering the long-standing mysteries in extra-galactic astrophysics to understanding the properties of the sun’s outer atmosphere, astronomy research aims to help us understand what surrounds us. Frontiers highlights some of the top astronomy articles we have published recently. In a field as vast as space itself, cutting-edge work may be concerned with particles so small they are invisible to the human eye. Similarly, discoveries may be about whole galaxies. Those new findings, as well as advances in the theory, experiment, and methodology enable us to gain a better understanding of outer space. These five articles published recently as part of the Frontiers research topic ‘Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics’ cover important topics at the forefront of astronomy. Some Notes About the Current Researches on the Physics of Relativistic Jets Relativistic jets are powerful plasma jets emitted at the speed of light by black holes of some galaxies, massive stars, and neutron stars. In a review article published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Italian researchers provided an effective critical review about one of the most long-standing mysteries in extra-galactic astrophysics: the origin of these ejections from the centers of galaxies. […]