Space Station News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

Brain Cells Remain Healthy After a Month on the International Space Station, but Mature Faster Than Brain Cells on Earth

Dec. 17, 2024 — Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cogni tion, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, ...

Confinement May Affect How We Smell and Feel About Food

Nov. 18, 2024 — New research found confined and isolating environments changed the way people smelled and responded emotionally to certain food aromas. The team in this study compared 44 people's emotional responses and perception of eight food aromas in two ...

Space: A New Frontier for Exploring Stem Cell Therapy

Nov. 4, 2024 — Stem cells grown in microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have unique qualities that could one day help accelerate new biotherapies and heal complex disease, researchers say. The research analysis finds microgravity can ...

Laser Measurements to Track Space Debris and Observe Water Masses

Oct. 30, 2024 — More accurate orbit predictions for satellites and space debris as well as a better understanding of the water masses present on Earth: Researchers at achieved both using satellite laser ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:06pm EST

Faster Space Communication With Record-Sensitive Receiver

Oct. 30, 2024 — In space exploration, long-distance optical links can now be used to transmit images, films and data from space probes to Earth using light. But in order for the signals to reach all the way and not ...

One of the Fastest-Spinning Stars in the Universe

Oct. 30, 2024 — New research in our Milky Way has revealed a neutron star that rotates around its axis at an extremely high speed. It spins 716 times per second, making it one of the fastest-spinning objects ever ...

NASA, NOAA: Sun Reaches Maximum Phase in 11-Year Solar Cycle

Oct. 15, 2024 — Experts have announced that the Sun has reached its solar maximum period, which could continue for the next year. Scientists will not be able to determine the exact peak of this solar maximum period ...

Simulated Mission to Mars: Survey of Lichen Species

Oct. 11, 2024 — A collection-based survey of lichen species at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Nunavut, Canada was conducted as part of the Mars-160 ...

Low Gravity in Space Travel Found to Weaken and Disrupt Normal Rhythm in Heart Muscle Cells

Sep. 23, 2024 — Scientists who arranged for 48 human bioengineered heart tissue samples to spend 30 days at the International Space Station report evidence that the ...

Keeping Mold out of Future Space Stations

Sep. 11, 2024 — Mold can survive the harshest of environments, so to stop harmful spores from growing on future space stations, a study suggests a way to prevent its ...

International Space Station Crew Carries out Archeological Survey in Space

Aug. 7, 2024 — An archaeological strategy adapted for space used daily photos to reveal how astronauts actually use areas aboard the International Space Station -- and how this differs from intended ...

Findings from First Archaeology Project in Space

Aug. 7, 2024 — The first-ever archeological survey in space has provided new insights into how astronauts use and adapt their living space on the International Space Station, which could influence the design of new ...

Space-Trekking Muscle Tests Drugs for Microgravity-Induced Muscle Impairment

July 25, 2024 — A gentle rumble ran under a researcher's feet as a rocket carrying her research -- live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips -- ...

Expiring Medications Could Pose Challenge on Long Space Missions

July 23, 2024 — A new study shows that over half of the medicines stocked in space -- staples such as pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids -- would expire before astronauts could return to ...

NASA Reveals Prototype Telescope for Gravitational Wave Observatory

Oct. 22, 2024 — NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational ...

Food Aroma Study May Help Explain Why Meals Taste Bad in Space

July 16, 2024 — A new study on common food aromas may help explain why astronauts report that meals taste bland in space and struggle to eat their normal nutritional intake. This research has broader implications ...

Greater Focus Needed on How Existing International Law Can Prevent the Increasing Militarization of Outer Space

July 10, 2024 — There is a pressing need for countries and international organizations to understand better how existing international law can help them address serious concerns about the militarization of outer ...

Predicting Changes Inside Astronauts' Bodies During Space Travel Through Blood Sample Analysis

June 26, 2024 — The human body undergoes various transformations in space. However, a direct examination of organs and tissues is challenging. This study successfully identified these changes inside the body by ...

Guiding Humanity Beyond the Moon

June 24, 2024 — What actually happens to the human body in space? While scientists and researchers have heavily researched how various factors impact the human body here on Earth, the amount of information available ...

Impacts of Space Travel on Astronauts' Eye Health

June 19, 2024 — Gravitational changes experienced by astronauts during space travel can cause fluids within the body to shift. This can cause changes to the cardiovascular system, including vessels in and around the ...

New Biomarker Database Designed to Improve Astronaut Health May Also Be Useful to Earthlings

June 11, 2024 — As space travel becomes more frequent, a new biomarker tool was developed by an international team of researchers to help improve the growing field of aerospace medicine and the health of ...

How the Immune System Goes Awry During Space Travel and the Implications for Human Aging on Earth

June 11, 2024 — Researching the immune system in space could have payoffs for human aging on earth. Scientists have revealed how the lack of gravity affects the cells of the immune system at single cell ...

Would Astronauts' Kidneys Survive a Roundtrip to Mars?

June 11, 2024 — The structure and function of the kidneys is altered by space flight, with galactic radiation causing permanent damage that would jeopardise any mission to Mars, according to a new study led by ...

Earth and Space Share the Same Turbulence

June 7, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that the turbulence found in the thermosphere -- known as the gateway to space -- and turbulence in the troposphere, here closer to sea level, follow the same physical ...

Researchers Call for Strengthening Sustainability Regulations in Laws Governing Space Exploration

June 3, 2024 — Researchers call for strengthening existing planetary protection policies beyond the space surrounding Earth to include requirements for preserving the Lunar and Martian ...

Iron Fingerprints in Nearby Active Galaxy

May 8, 2024 — After starting science operations in February, Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) studied the monster black hole at the center of galaxy NGC ...

Probing the Effects of Interplanetary Space on Asteroid Ryugu

Apr. 29, 2024 — Samples reveal evidence of changes experienced by the surface of asteroid Ryugu, some probably due to micrometeoroid ...

Simulated Microgravity Affects Sleep and Physiological Rhythms

Apr. 22, 2024 — Simulated effects of microgravity significantly affect rhythmicity and sleep in humans, a new study finds. Such disturbances could negatively affect the physiology and performance of astronauts in ...

'Tube Map' Around Planets and Moons Made Possible by Knot Theory

Apr. 17, 2024 — Scientists have developed a new method using knot theory to find the optimal routes for future space missions without the need to waste ...

Secrets of the Van Allen Belt Revealed in New Study

Mar. 21, 2024 — A challenge to space scientists to better understand our hazardous near-Earth space environment has been set in a new ...

Pioneering Muscle Monitoring in Space to Help Astronauts Stay Strong in Low-Gravity

Mar. 20, 2024 — Astronauts have been able to track their muscle health in spaceflight for the first time using a handheld device, revealing which muscles are most at risk of weakening in low gravity conditions. ...

Simulated Microgravity Effects Cause Marked Changes in Gene Expression Rhythms in Humans, Study Finds

Mar. 19, 2024 — Simulated effects of microgravity, created by 60 days of constant bed rest, severely disrupts rhythmic gene expression in humans, according to a new ...

Do Astronauts Experience 'Space Headaches'?

Mar. 13, 2024 — Space travel and zero gravity can take a toll on the body. A new study has found that astronauts with no prior history of headaches may experience migraine and tension-type headaches during long-haul ...

CSI in Space: Analyzing Bloodstain Patterns in Microgravity

Mar. 8, 2024 — As more people seek to go where no man has gone before, researchers are exploring how forensic science can be adapted to extraterrestrial environments. A new study highlights the behavior of blood in ...