npj Microgravity最新文献

{"title":"The long arc of scientists in spaceflight: scientists flying with their experiments.","authors":"Robert J Ferl","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00667-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00667-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent developments in commercial suborbital spaceflight have expanded opportunities for researchers to fly with their experiments. In an accompanying paper in npj Microgravity, we report results from a researcher-tended experiment aboard Blue Origin New Shepard flight NS-26¹. This Perspective examines the historically rare role of scientists flying to conduct their own research and argues that firsthand participation in spaceflight enriches scientific observation, interpretation, and discovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13672291/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149197919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interactive causal diagram of habitat design impacts on behavioral health and performance in extreme environments.","authors":"Mich Lin, Lu Chen, Katya Arquilla","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00618-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00618-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As crewed long-duration space exploration missions become increasingly Earth-independent and reliant on onboard technology, risks due to human-system incompatibility become critical to address. In a space habitat, establishing objective and meaningful relationships between the individual and the environment has been challenging due to multidirectional influences between system components. Feedback loops between behavioral health processes and outcomes complicate characterization of influence within the system. Yet, it remains crucial for habitat designers and stakeholders to trade design decisions and their associated risks. In this work, we have created a risk mapping of the impact of habitat design to behavioral health and performance outcomes in isolated, confined, and extreme environments. We leverage a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) to formalize habitat design parameters as powerful mediators between mission stressors and behavioral health outcomes. To represent the DAG accessibly, we created the Human-Environment Connection & Interaction Atlas ( https://hecia.space ), an interactive open-source platform. We conducted expert and user interviews to evaluate the underlying DAG and the usability of the tool. Herein, we present our novel development of a risk map that links habitat design and behavioral health, as well as an interactive visualization that can provide a basis for accessible communication of complex systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13470023/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148722623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A computational model of altered neuronal activity in altered gravity.","authors":"Camille Gontier, Laura Drouvé, Johannes Striebel, Maximilian Sturm, Zoe Meerholz, Sarah Schunk, Yannick Lichterfeld, Christian Liemersdorf","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00644-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00644-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrophysiological experiments have shown that neuronal activity changes upon exposure to altered gravity. More specifically, neurons' firing rates increase during microgravity and decrease during centrifugal-induced hypergravity. Different biophysical explanations have been proposed for this phenomenon; however, they have not been backed by quantitative analyses or simulations. More generally, classical computational models of neurons and networks do not account for the effect of altered gravity, which limits the possibility to perform in-silico experiments and simulations. Here, we propose computational implementations for different effects of altered gravity on cellular functions, and modify existing models to account for the effect of micro- and hyper-gravity. Firstly, in line with previous experiments, we suggest that microgravity could be modeled as an increase in the voltage-dependent channel transition rates, which is assumed to be the result of a higher membrane fluidity and can be readily implemented into the Hodgkin-Huxley model. Using in silico simulations of single neurons, we show that this model of the influence of gravity on neuronal activity allows for reproducing the observed increased firing and burst rates. Secondly, we explore the role of mechano-gated (MG) ion channels on population activity. We show that recordings can be fitted by a network of connected excitatory neurons, whose activity is balanced by firing rate adaptation. Adding a small depolarizing current to account for the activation of MG channels also reproduces the observed increased firing and burst rates. Overall, our results fill an important gap in the literature, by providing a computational link between altered gravity and neuronal activity. Starting from historical observations of the effects of gravity on cellular functions, we derived gravity-sensitive models of neurons and networks, whose predictions could be refined using future experiments.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13451429/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148690412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Collagen-heparan sulfate microcarriers support mesenchymal stem cell culture in microgravity and streamline post-flight recovery.","authors":"Carolina Rivera-Crespo, Leonel Vélez-Román, William Meza-Morales, Heath J Mills, Olivia Gámez-Holzhaus, Camilo Mora, Maribella Domenech-García","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00643-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00643-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold broad therapeutic potential, yet the absence of validated, scalable adherent culture methods remains a barrier to orbital biomanufacturing. Here, we report the first integrated workflow for MSC culture on pre-seeded microcarriers (µCs) encompassing cryopreservation, ambient thaw, and expansion aboard the International Space Station. We engineered heparan sulfate-collagen (HS/COL) µCs with defined sulfation levels to modulate integrin engagement and factor-release kinetics and benchmarked them against commercial µCs and suspension controls. Our results demonstrate that pre-seeded MSCs remain viable and adherent throughout the spaceflight lifecycle, with ambient workflows enabling parallel evaluation of multiple donors and surface chemistries while minimizing crew intervention. In microgravity, MSC proliferation peaked 3 days earlier than on Earth, with highest cell yields being obtained with low-sulfated HS/COL µCs. Secretome analyses revealed increased pro-collagen and extracellular vesicle release with preserved bioactive microRNA cargo. While HS/COL surfaces buffered microRNA homeostasis, suspension and commercial µC cultures exhibited orbit-specific miRNA signatures associated with cytoskeletal remodeling and immune regulation. Post-flight, MSCs recovered from µCs retained proliferative capacity and multipotency, though microgravity exposure favored adipogenic over chondrogenic differentiation. Collectively, these results establish a scalable culture strategy using pre-seeded µCs for stem cell research and biomanufacturing in space.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13493986/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Boundary cap neural crest stem cells exhibit remarkable resilience to environmental stressors associated with International Space Station mission.","authors":"Robert Fredriksson, Yilin Han, Xiangyi Du, Craig A Sexton, Povilas Barasa, Federica Zanotti, Nicola B Hamilton, Keisuke Ito, Barbara Zavan, Elena N Kozlova","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00646-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00646-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Boundary cap neural crest stem cells (BCs) previously demonstrated resilience during short-term microgravity exposure. In this study, BCs were sent to the International Space Station aboard Axiom Mission 3. Owing to launch regulations and weather delays, cells remained outside controlled culture conditions longer than anticipated, exceeding expected survival limits. Three BC populations were included: naive BCs (NBC), once-flown BCs (V15), and twice-flown BCs (V1415), cultured as neurospheres or within 3D-printed scaffolds. Corresponding ground controls were maintained under matched conditions. Only V1415 cells survived in both flight and ground groups, while NBC cells survived exclusively after spaceflight. V15 cells did not survive. All surviving cells exhibited reduced proliferation, contrasting with the enhanced proliferation reported after short-term microgravity exposure. Following 1 month of post-flight expansion, surviving cells retained the capacity to differentiate into neurons and glial cells without detectable electrophysiological impairment. Space-exposed NBC cultures showed increased glial differentiation, whereas V1415 flight cultures displayed a higher neuronal proportion than ground controls. BCs cultured in 3D-printed scaffolds exhibited robust survival and significantly increased proliferation after space exposure. Exosome analysis identified miRNAs associated with enhanced proliferation in flight samples. These findings demonstrate the remarkable stress resistance, developmental plasticity, and adaptability of BCs during prolonged spaceflight conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13447931/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148686145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Suborbital spaceflight reveals rapid changes in gene expression accompanying the transition to and from space.","authors":"Robert J Ferl, Hunter F Strickland, Jordan B Callaham, Vicken Aknadibossian, Owen Marr, Paula Adhikari, Anna-Lisa Paul","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00645-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00645-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human-rated suborbital vehicles present the opportunity to conduct science during the transitions to space and back. This opportunity is enhanced by the ability to include researchers in the crew who can conduct real-time experiments in what is effectively a shirt-sleeve environment. While numerous suborbital flights have carried autonomous research payloads, suborbital vehicle systems have yet to be fully operationalized as platforms for scientists to physically conduct experiments. Therefore the present study was designed as an early step to advance this operationalization through a researcher-tended experiment on New Shepard flight NS-26, with the science objective to sample plant responses at four specific moments of the suborbital spaceflight experience - on the tower just before launch, after launch at capsule separation and entry into microgravity, just before reentry, and shortly after landing. The conduct of the experiment also further operationalized the use of Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tubes (KFTs) within suborbital flights by using duplicate KFTs to capture replicate samples preserved in RNAlater at each of the timepoints. Further, the replicated sampling during flight was precisely matched in real time with ground control sampling. This approach enabled a robust analysis of gene expression changes in Arabidopsis seedlings during the spaceflight experience. Rapid, specific reprogramming of the transcriptome occurred, especially during the boost and microgravity phases of the flight. Some of the differentially expressed genes were related to genes differentially regulated during longer-term orbital spaceflight; however, the nature of many of the metabolic pathways that were differentially regulated early in suborbital spaceflight suggests that entry into space produces a rapid, acute response involving misfolded proteins and other reactive oxygen species stresses-some of them involving mitochondrial processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13672305/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149197903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Longitudinal alterations in lower extremity quantitative MRI metrics under simulated microgravity and their associations with systemic biomarkers.","authors":"Yunxia Shen, Weili Yu, Yuhua Liu, Zhentao Wu, Yawen Liu, Rui Wang, Huanran Hou, Linkun Cai, Yan Huang, Peng-Gang Qiao, Pengling Ren, Zhenchang Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00640-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-026-00640-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study employed a before-and-after design and utilized proton density fat fraction (PDFF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the effects of 7 days of -6° head-down tilt bed rest (HDBR) on the lower limb muscles of healthy men. We performed multiple MRI scans of the participants' thighs and calves during the HDBR period and collected blood and urine samples at corresponding time points to analyse biomarkers. We observed a sustained and significant reduction in thigh muscle cross-sectional area (TMCSA) and medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle cross-sectional area (MHMCSA) during HDBR (p < 0.001). The thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue area (TSAT) and the calf subcutaneous adipose tissue area (CSAT) showed a downward trend at the onset of HDBR, followed by a gradual recovery. During HDBR, both the thigh and calf muscle contractile mass index (CMI) exhibited a significant and sustained downward trend. Phosphorus (P), direct renin (DR), and red blood cells (RBC) showed significant correlations with muscle/fat parameters (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that short-term HDBR leads to lower limb muscle atrophy and subcutaneous fat redistribution, and that these changes are dynamically associated with stress responses, metabolic indicators, and biomarkers related to bone metabolism.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13614925/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149065921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extreme environment provides clues about socio-environmental stressors contribution to ISS-induced changes in antibody repertoire.","authors":"Pauline Jacob, Anne Vanet, Matthias Feuerecker, Claudia Strewe, Tim Heitland, Carole Dangoisse, Carmen Possnig, Peter Jonczyk, Stéphanie Ghislin, Alexander Choukér, Jean-Pol Frippiat","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00637-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-026-00637-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spaceflight-induced immune system dysregulation coupled with limited clinical care represents a risk for crew members. This study aimed to discern which stressor encountered during a space mission impact the antibody repertoire. Via next-generation sequencing, we analyzed the immunoglobulin heavy chain repertoire of volunteers wintering for a year in Antarctica at two stations, Neumayer III (sea level) and Concordia (altitude of 3233 m), which are recognized ground-based analogs of the space environment except for the gravity change and radiation. Our results showed that, as in space crewmembers, 40% of individuals at both stations developed significant changes in their antibody repertoire during polar night. Furthermore, similar to cosmonauts, these modifications were associated with a modification of the V(D)J recombination process responsible for creating antibody genes. These results suggest that physical and socioenvironmental stressors alone can contribute to antibody repertoire changes, confirming the need to implement operational improvements and personalized approaches during future deep-space exploration missions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148474176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Persistent cognitive impairment and bone health following helium ion exposure: implications for space travel.","authors":"Laura C Bowman, Carli J Burns, Victoria E Elliott, Sofia Manicka, Julia Schaffer, Rosalie R Connell, Patricia K Thomas, Calvin J Okulicz, Joan Smith, Alexis Mraz, Anthony G Lau, Catherine M Davis","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00628-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-026-00628-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated the long-term neurobehavioral and physiological impacts of low-dose helium (⁴He) ion exposure-a key component of galactic cosmic radiation-on male Long Evans rats. After training on the rodent psychomotor vigilance test (rPVT), the rats were irradiated and monitored for up to 180 days to assess sustained attention and social recognition memory, alongside blood and bone analyses. Results showed that acute exposure to 25 cGy ⁴He ions significantly impaired sustained attention, increasing attention lapses and reaction times, and decreasing task accuracy. Exposure to 5 cGy only affected specific reaction time measures. However, both doses caused persistent social recognition memory impairments for 180 days. While overall bone mechanics remained largely unchanged, specific skeletal strength parameters were affected. Importantly, significant correlations emerged between behavioral performance and circulating cytokines (IL-1beta), undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), and bone biomechanics. This suggests these blood and bone targets could serve as diagnostic biomarkers for radiation-induced neurobehavioral deficits. The sustained and progressive nature of the neurobehavioral deficits observed underscores the critical need for effective countermeasures to protect astronaut health and performance during exploration-class missions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cardiovascular and central nervous system risk in astronauts: the minipig as a physiologically relevant radiation model.","authors":"Diana Cruz-Topete, Gregory Nelson, Marshleen Yadav, Janapriya Saha, Angela J Kubik, Jason M Weeks, Janice A Zawaski","doi":"10.1038/s41526-026-00635-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-026-00635-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Humans will return to the Moon and travel to deep space on their journey to Mars. Space exploration presents significant hazards to human health, including exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPEs). Space radiation-induced carcinogenesis is considered a primary risk to astronaut health. However, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction have emerged as significant health risks for astronauts. Small animal models, particularly rodents, have provided valuable information regarding IR effects on the cardiovascular and CNSs; however, these small animal models have limitations in mimicking human metabolism and physiology, highlighting the need for alternative models. Minipigs are highly translational cardiovascular and neurovascular models due to their close similarities to humans in anatomy, physiology, metabolism, and immune responses. Their use enables clinically relevant assessment of space radiation-induced cardiovascular and neurological effects. This review highlights the advantages and limitations of minipigs as radiation models, including their utility for investigating sex-specific responses and their integration with emerging microphysiological systems. Together, these approaches provide a translational platform for mechanistic discovery, biomarker identification, risk assessment, and the development of countermeasures to protect astronaut health during future deep-space missions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148450289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}