Study of sensory organs in microgravity conditions: methods and results in 2026
As humanity expands its activities in space, medical research into how our bodies cope with microgravity conditions has become the subject of numerous studies, including the effects of spaceflight on muscle mass and radiation exposure. Astronauts on future missions to the Moon or Mars will face increased risks to their vision and eye structure due to longer exposure to microgravity. The CIPHER study, consisting of 14 human studies, is examining the physical and psychological health of astronauts in space and applying these findings to supporting the health of crews on long-duration missions away from Earth.
Researchers are looking for a ceiling on the impact of solar storms on Earth. And so far they haven’t found one
Even “moderately intense” geomagnetic storms, disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field caused by charged particles and the Sun’s magnetic energy, can carry much more energy than previously thought, challenging scientists’ understanding of how these space weather events develop and how their strength is measured.
Microbiological surprises of extraterrestrial life: reverse panspermia. Terrestrial microorganisms can colonize outer space
Cosmic rays and aggressive environments don’t kill microorganisms; they even maintain an active metabolism that “heals” mutations. This gives rise to the hypothesis of reverse panspermia: terrestrial microorganisms could “conquer” space and become the origin of life on other planets. On the other hand, early life on Earth functioned in conditions so different from modern ones that they could seem almost alien. Studying these systems helps us understand not only where life might exist, but also what it might be like.
Microgravity, plants, worms, and butterflies: How space agriculture is taking off
Cutting-edge research in botany and biology is conducted aboard the International Space Station to support future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Scientists have confirmed that space weather affects spacecraft, astronaut safety, radio communications, GPS, and power grids on Earth
The effects of solar storms may be limitless. Observations have shown that electrical currents in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, which can affect satellites, communications, and navigation signals, increase as the solar wind intensifies.
Technologies for creating a fully-fledged habitat in microgravity conditions and on other planets: mycelium, 3D, carbon fiber
The Mycotecture project team at NASA’s Ames Research Center is developing technologies that will enable the “growing” of habitats on the Moon, Mars, and beyond using fungi and the subterranean filaments that make up their main component, known as mycelium. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, have successfully tested the next-generation SpaceCAL microgravity 3D printer. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have unveiled ecovoxels—modular, reconfigurable building blocks that can be used for both construction on Earth and for creating living and working spaces in space. As part of the European Space Agency’s First! initiative, CompPair, in collaboration with Com&Sens and CSEM, has developed a new self-controlling and self-healing carbon fiber composite material.
Satellites in Earth orbit monitor soil moisture, water availability, river flow, and the global water cycle
The primary objective of the SMAP mission is to assess the moisture content of the surface soil layer and its state (frozen or thawed). Another pioneering reconnaissance mission of the European Space Agency, the HydroGNSS satellites, has become an important step in expanding global understanding of water availability and the impact of climate change on the global water cycle. The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite allows for the assessment of river discharge, defined as the volume of water flowing per second at a given point along the river.
Treatment and prevention of diseases during long-term flights in microgravity conditions
Deep space exploration requires a paradigm shift in astronaut medical support toward Earth-independent medical operations. Currently, astronauts rely on real-time communications with ground-based medical facilities. However, as the distance from Earth increases, communication delays and disruptions increase. Crews engaged in deep space exploration will need to autonomously detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases. One potential solution is to enhance the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of crews participating in long-duration exploration missions with a digital clinical decision support system (CDSS).
The process of astronauts adapting to Earth’s gravity after a long stay in space
When astronauts return from extended stays in space, they are often removed from their capsules and placed on stretchers. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded in March 2025, were no exception. The effects of long-term spaceflight on the human body are an area of active research. The current record for the longest continuous stay in space belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 days—just over 14 months—aboard the now-defunct Mir space station in 1994 and 1995.
Sunspots and Solar Flares: A Timeline of Occurrences and Research Results in 2025
The end of 2025 was marked by the appearance of a solar spot directly facing Earth, similar in parameters to the standard for assessing modern cosmic threats—the “Carrington event.” And in early November 2025, a series of powerful X-class solar flares triggered coronal mass ejections, resulting in extensive aurora borealis displays observed as far south as Mexico.
New research into astronaut nutrition
Nutrition has been crucial in every era of exploration on Earth, from the days when scurvy plagued sailors to the last century, when polar explorers died from malnutrition or, in some cases, nutrient toxicity. New research sheds light on the risks of inadequate nutrition and food supply, leading to poor health and performance of astronauts during missions, as well as to poor health in the long term (nutrition and food-related risks).
Studies of the cardiovascular and muscular systems under altered gravity conditions
Even intense physical activity by astronauts cannot compensate for the muscle atrophy caused by microgravity. This atrophy occurs, in part, due to the mechanism regulating calcium absorption. Recent studies have shown that spaceflight alters calcium absorption by muscles. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes are poorly understood.
Microbes as part of biodiversity in space flights
Astronauts arriving and returning from space stations carry trillions of microscopic organisms with them. For example, new species of space-adapted bacteria have been discovered on China’s Tiangong space station. Recently, 26 previously unknown species of bacteria were discovered in NASA’s cleanrooms—some of the most sterile environments ever created by humanity. Another study shows that, under stress, strains isolated from the ISS mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct from their terrestrial counterparts.
Basic principles of the design and operation of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest and most powerful space telescope in existence. NASA’s infrared space observatory was launched on December 25, 2021, from ESA’s Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana at 7:20 a.m. ET (12:20 p.m. GMT; 9:20 a.m. local time in Kourou) aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The $10 billion James Webb Telescope will explore the cosmos to uncover the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the formation of exoplanets and beyond.
Asteroids still pose a danger to our planet. Earth scientists are actively working on this problem
NASA’s new NEO Surveyor spacecraft will search for the hardest-to-find asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to our planet, making it the agency’s first space telescope designed specifically for planetary defense. The impact craters that scar the Earth’s surface are evidence of the enormous impact asteroids have had on the history and development of our planet.
Hera mission to visit previously shot down asteroid Dimorphos to assess impact of its DART collision
Dimorphos is a moon of the near-Earth asteroid Didymos. This binary asteroid system was previously visited by NASA’s DART spacecraft, which deliberately collided with Dimorphos in 2022 and changed its orbit around Didymos as a demonstration of a planetary defense technique designed to change the trajectory of a potentially hazardous asteroid.
Earth temporarily has a new ‘mini-Moon’
On Sunday, September 29, Earth captured a new “mini-moon” called 2024 PT5. The bus-sized asteroid is expected to orbit our planet for 57 days, but it’s too small to be seen by amateur skywatchers. This isn’t the first time such a phenomenon has occurred. In 2020, astronomers identified another mini-moon, 2020 CD3, which orbited Earth for more than a year.
The Draconid meteor shower will be visible tonight
The Draconids meteor shower will reach its peak activity today, on the night of Wednesday, October 9. The number of “shooting stars” at this time can reach 15 per hour. The peak of the meteor shower is expected at approximately 16:00 Moscow time, but shooting stars can also be observed after dusk, the Moscow Planetarium reported.
Black Hole Systems: Gravitational Waves of Space-Time Learned to Catch on Earth
Astronomers have discovered supermassive black holes with masses millions or billions of times that of the Sun in most massive galaxies in the local Universe, including our own Milky Way. Webb’s new observations provide evidence of an ongoing merger of two galaxies and their massive black holes when the Universe was just 740 million years old. The system is known as ZS7. Most black hole binaries are expected to be in what are called “quasi-circular” orbits. The giant black holes are thought to have been created when two smaller black holes collided and merged one day. And now scientists are wondering if we can learn about the black hole family tree by working backwards through the generations.
China outpaces rivals in space exploration
China built its own Tiangong space station, also known as “Tianhe”, located at altitudes of 217 and 280 miles (340 to 450 kilometers) in low Earth orbit in 2021. For the first time in more than four decades, it was China that brought moon rocks to humanity. China launched the Chang’e-6 probe to return soil from the far side of the Moon. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Einstein Probe spacecraft was launched on January 9, 2024. China has already begun to lead the world in military launches, sending 45 defense satellites into orbit in 2022.
Modern latest satellite meteorological monitoring systems
Space-based observing systems account for approximately 90% of the data used in global numerical weather prediction models. Everyone on Earth is affected by the effects of climate change, such as rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and rising sea levels. Natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, floods and tornadoes can dramatically change the Earth’s surface to the point where the changes are visible in space. Changes caused by human actions and interventions such as mining and deforestation are also visible in satellite images. Collecting climate data helps communities better plan for and become more resilient to these changes.
Space debris threatens not only the further exploration of outer space, but also directly the inhabitants of the Earth
NASA confirms that the object that crashed into a house in Florida was indeed space debris from the ISS. Satellites are burning up in the upper atmosphere – and we still don’t know what impact this will have on the Earth’s climate. Space pollution threatens the Earth’s magnetosphere; the deposition of highly conductive materials can reduce the planet’s protective capabilities, an expert says.
Astronauts on the ISS are looking for solutions to problems that may arise during a long flight
The flight of Russian cosmonauts and NASA astronauts, participants of the 70th long-term expedition, continues at the International Space Station. A long stay in space causes physical changes in the human body. For example, the condition of bones and muscles deteriorates. Therefore, the health of astronauts is closely studied by doctors and scientists.
Carbonaceous materials from an asteroid, chelates and soda lakes: scientists are closer to understanding the origin of life
The research results may explain how life arose on Earth and can also be applied to other planets and bodies in the solar system and to exoplanets.
Groundwater reserves are catastrophically declining
Groundwater supplies are being depleted in aquifers around the world, a new study has found, with the rate of decline accelerating over the past four decades in nearly a third of the aquifers studied. Rapid declines in water levels are most common in aquifers beneath cropland in drier regions, the largest analysis of groundwater trends shows.
75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are not trackable
An innovative study by Sentinel-1 and AI (European Space Agency) combining satellite data and artificial intelligence has shed light on the number of ships, wind turbines and oil platforms at sea. Shockingly, the study shows that about 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels were previously hidden from publicly available tracking systems. The study, published recently in the journal Nature, was conducted by Global Fishing Watch, an organization that seeks to improve ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea.
Eighth asteroid discovered before it collides with Earth
On January 20, 2024, astronomer Christian Sarnecki discovered an asteroid approaching Earth, which just hours later crashed into our planet’s atmosphere 50 km west of Berlin, creating a fireball. Dubbed “2024 BX1”, it is only the eighth asteroid discovered by humanity before the impact, and the third discovered by Sarnetsky. The asteroid impact created a bright fireball, or bolide, that was visible from as far away as the Czech Republic and may have scattered small meteorites across the ground at the impact site about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Berlin.
The Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland have received special attention from organizations involved in space research
The Russian satellite constellation Arktika-M, launched in 2021 and 2023, transmitted the first images of the Arctic region and surrounding areas from space. On June 30, 2011, NASA’s Terra satellite made several passes over the Arctic. ICESat-2 is the second spacecraft to study the Earth’s ice cover. The US-India satellite NISAR will begin monitoring changes in the Earth’s frozen regions in 2024.
The European Space Agency has announced a space economy in collaboration with international partners
From managing climate change to emergency response and digitizing the economy, space exploration is becoming increasingly important to life on Earth. To help policymakers and businesses make informed decisions about investments in space, ESA (European Space Agency) has published plans to create robust and reliable data on the space economy in collaboration with international partners.
The scientific community is studying the Apophis asteroid approaching Earth
Scientists estimate that asteroids the size of Apophis, about 367 yards across, come this close to Earth only once every 7,500 years. Asteroid Apophis will make an exceptionally close approach to our planet on April 13, 2029. Although Apophis will not collide with Earth during this approach or in the foreseeable future, its passage in 2029 will be within 32,000 kilometers of Earth. At this point, it will be closer than some satellites and can be seen with the naked eye in Earth’s eastern hemisphere. Although the encounter with Apophis is more than five years away, the next milestone on its path will be the first of six close transits of the Sun.
The European Space Agency has signed a contract to create its own space station, Starlab
Beginning in 2027, Starlab will maintain a permanent human presence in low Earth orbit, operated by Voyager Space and Airbus.
Roscosmos extended the operation of the Russian segment of the ISS until 2028
Earlier, Roscosmos General Director Yuri Borisov reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the decision made to withdraw from the ISS project after 2024. Borisov later said that Russia will most likely participate in the project until 2028. Now the decision to extend the ISS until 2030 has been made by the United States and Japan, and the European Space Agency also supported this initiative.
DART mission changed the trajectory of an asteroid using a spacecraft
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured a series of photographs of the rapid changes to the asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately struck by a 545-kilogram spacecraft on September 26, 2022. The main goal of NASA’s mission, called DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test), is to test the ability to change the trajectory of an asteroid as it orbits its larger companion asteroid.
Planetologists continue to study asteroids
Organic substances have been discovered on the Ryugu asteroid. Another asteroid, 2022 FD1, discovered by astronomers only on the night of March 24-25, flew past the Earth at noon on March 25 at a distance of only about eight thousand kilometers.
Roscosmos will produce its own Russian orbital station
The first module of the Russian orbital station could be launched as early as 2026, which will be several times more efficient than the previous ISS, said the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin.
Roscosmos has stopped cooperation with most European countries
NASA intends to maintain contacts with Roscosmos to ensure the safe operation of the International Space Station and to continue cooperation between Russia and the United States in the field of the civil space program.
The General Director of the Roscosmos State Corporation commented on the situation in connection with possible sanctions
On February 26, 2022, General Director of the Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin took part in the broadcast of the Solovyov Live YouTube channel, during which he explained the corporation’s position and further actions in connection with the new international situation, the Roscosmos press service reports.
Roscosmos continues to establish international cooperation in space
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, intensive preparations have begun at the Vostok launch complex at site No. 31 for the launch of the next batch of spacecraft from the OneWeb satellite company as part of mission No. 38, the Roscosmos press service reports.
Private astronautics is becoming more and more distinct
Private space flights, the first private spacewalk, infrastructure for the development of private space exploration in Russia and private satellites – new real space startups.
The international satellite system COSPAS-SARSAT has been successfully saving lives for almost 40 years
The Russian Space Systems holding company began creating a network of ground stations for receiving signals from the COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue equipment on board the medium-orbit navigation satellites GLONASS, GPS, Galileo and Beidou.
Roscosmos launched another 34 OneWeb satellites into orbit from the French cosmodrome
On February 10, 2022, the Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle was launched from the launch complex of the Guiana Space Center (French Guiana, South America). After 3.5 hours, the Fregat-M upper stage successfully launched another batch of 34 OneWeb satellites into low-Earth orbit, the Roscosmos press service reports.
The Russian Federal Space Program includes the creation of a garbage collector from geostationary orbits
The federal space program, designed in Russia until 2025, provides for the creation of a satellite for cleaning up space debris, RIA Novosti reports.
Wireless power transmission has become a reality
Roscosmos has developed a project for a promising space power station that will transmit solar energy from space to Earth via a laser beam, the Roscosmos press service reports.
Potentially dangerous asteroids for the Earth do not leave their orbits
In 2029, the asteroid Apophis will fly at a distance of 30 thousand km from the Earth, on February 8, 2022, the asteroid 2007 UY1 will approach the Earth, it will be at a distance of just over five million kilometers from the planet. A potential collision with asteroid d2022 AE is possible on July 4, 2023.
Roscosmos is actively solving the problem of space debris
The sinking of outdated spacecraft and the development of new radar stations will help in the avoidance and elimination of dangerous objects.
The international community is concerned about the possible militarization of space
The state corporation Roscosmos is concerned that the United States and NATO are launching potential weapons carriers into space.
A special NASA mission is testing to change the orbit of an asteroid
On the morning of October 24, 2021, a Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the DRAT space probe launched from a military spaceport in California, which will crash into an asteroid to test technology for protecting the Earth from collisions with space objects.
Profession of the future – space welder
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will instruct Roscosmos and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation to develop a special training program for the Vostochny cosmodrome.
Inspiration4 mission with civilians on board launches in September 2021
SpaceX announced the launch of Inspiration4, “the world’s first all-civilian space mission.”