Scope

Space and gravity related research has seen quite a boost in the last decade and it is expected to increase even more especially with the availability of new systems such as sub-orbital flights, commercial access to the International Space Station(ISS) as well as new free flyer platforms for microgravity combined with cosmic radiation.

The various space agencies as well as commercial entities are planning exploration missions to our cosmic neighbors Moon and Mars. But how do systems, both physical and living, operate under these partial gravity conditions? Although some pilot studies have been performed, much more work in physical sciences, life sciences and engineering needs to be accomplished. 

The Microgravity section of Frontiers in Space Technologies seeks to publish high-quality papers regarding innovative basic and applied research and engineering in altered gravity conditions. This could be the ‘traditional’ microgravity environment but also reduced or partial gravity to explore the area between micro-and 1g, including Moon and Mars gravity levels. In light of the gravity continuum paradigm, studies under hyper-gravity provide value as such, but the data could be used to extrapolate towards lower g values. Therefore, ground based work using centrifuges contribute to the understanding of the space environment. 

The content of the section should also contain works regarding hypo-gravity (between micro and 1) and hyper-gravity (any level above 1g) as well as works regarding micro- and partial gravity simulations.

Areas covered by this section include, but are not limited to:

●        Instrument development / test for research and application in altered gravity conditions

●        Instruments for Physical Sciences: fluids, gasses, plasmas, metals, soft matter, etc.

●        Instruments for Life Sciences : cell, tissue, plant, animal, and physical sciences

●        In-flight system / operations related instruments where gravity plays a significant role

●        Development / application of ground-based hypo-gravity simulators

●        The science and application performed in altered gravity conditions on ground or in (orbital) space flight

The Microgravity section invites submission that have a clear and detailed description of the instruments used in the presented papers in order for the readers to learn and make progress in this field of research and application. We also welcome theoretical and conceptual papers concerned with formal models and analyses regarding the impact of gravity or the lack thereof. All studies must contribute insights into the Newtonian gravity-related processes.

Reports dealing with only space radiation or gravity waves do not fall within the scope of this section and should be submitted to more specialized journals, such as Cosmology section in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences . 

Submission

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