Space

Orbital science, astronomy, remote sensing, and what lies beyond the atmosphere.

Brain scans from 16 astronauts found more microbleeds than expected among experienced flyers but no clear increase in the first seven months after one ISS mission

Brain scans from 16 astronauts found small signs of bleeding at rates that appeared unusually high for a healthy group of their age. The finding was strongest among astronauts who had flown on earlier missions, while scans taken after a typical six-month stay aboard the International Space Station showed no statistically clear short-term increase. The…

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Ten private astronauts returned from flights lasting four to 21 days with measurable trouble standing, walking and turning around obstacles

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Twelve taikonauts developed noisier motor timing in orbit even when the task minimized gravity, pointing to sleep loss, confinement and workload instead

A modern jet aircraft soaring against a bright blue sky, showcasing agility and speed

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Experienced pilots made altitude, navigation and touchdown errors on their first simulated landing after the ISS yet completed a second attempt successfully the same day

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Nine cosmonauts returned from missions averaging 247 days with a 14 percent loss in the small heart muscles that control the mitral valve

Optician in a clinic performing an eye examination with advanced vision testing equipment. Professional setting

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Brain and eye data from 89 space travelers found men had roughly three times the odds of neuro-ocular syndrome while women showed a different fluid shift

Intricate MRI brain scan displayed on a computer screen for medical analysis and diagnosis

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Brain scans taken before launch predicted which astronauts would lose balance on their first day home and who would recover by day four

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Fifteen astronauts rated one ISS meal each week for up to a year, and early loyalty to personal favorites left many foods tried by only one crewmember

Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station kept enjoying their favorite foods through missions lasting six months to nearly a year. Their ratings stayed steady because crew members found preferred items early, returned to them often and usually passed over foods they disliked. A study in Frontiers in Psychology examined 1,772 food ratings from 15…

View of a submarine's bunk room with torpedo tubes and metal bunks

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Six men spent 520 days inside a simulated Mars mission and slowly rated unpleasant images more positively as shifting moods and hormones revealed a difficult third quarter

Six men living inside a sealed Mars simulator slowly changed how they judged disturbing pictures. As the 520-day experiment continued, novel images of accidents, illness and other unpleasant scenes received more positive ratings. Changes in mood and blood hormones followed their own stages, with some of the strongest signs appearing late in the mission. The…

Isolated_astronaut_resting_inside_a_spacecraft

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Five analog astronauts spent seven days inside a Moon-like habitat and finished with higher cortisol plus rising oxidative stress as sleep and circadian rhythms came under strain

The hidden strain of a simulated lunar mission appeared in saliva, urine and sleep records within a single week. Five young crew members living in a sealed Moon-like habitat developed higher levels of cell-damaging chemicals and the stress hormone cortisol as their sleep became shorter and less restful. The findings come from a peer-reviewed study…

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