space

As NASA gears up to send humans back to the moon or even to Mars, they&#39;ll need to figure out how to keep these humans healthy and safe, far away from the resource-abundant Earth.It won&#39;t be feasible to pack everything they may need over the course of the mission, and resupply missions like those that keep the International Space Station (ISS) stocked will be prohibitively expensive and lengthy.What these astronauts can pack are Earth&#39;s unique renewable resource: cells. Cells of fungi and bacteria, for example, can be reprogrammed with synthetic DNA to produce specific materials, like bioplastics. These materials can then be fed into 3-D printers to manufacture things the astronauts may need during spaceflight &mdash; everything from hardware and medical devices to medicine and food.In an opinion piece&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/fulltext/S0167-7799(19)30110-6" target="_blank">published online</a> in&nbsp;Trends in Biotechnology, researchers from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and NASA outline ways that synthetic biology and 3-D printing can support life during deep-space human missions. But to make these ideas a reality, NASA is seeking help.&quot;Our opinion piece is a call to action to get DIY [do-it-yourself] biology and makerspace communities involved,&quot; says Peter Carr, who works in Lincoln Laboratory&#39;s Bioengineering Systems and Technologies Group. The DIY biology community makes it possible for anyone in the public with an interest to conduct biological engineering. The community operates outside the traditional academic or industry settings and spreads knowledge through open sourcing. Many DIY biologist groups operate makerspaces that provide equipment and supplies for members to do experiments on their own.&quot;These separate, eclectic communities do bio in unconventional settings all the time and are pioneers at rapid prototyping and developing technologies with limited resources. There are parallels here with space and the needs of NASA crews,&quot; Carr says. &quot;But this also requires organizations like ours and NASA to connect more deeply with them in a two-way process, so there&#39;s a real pathway to getting people&#39;s work into space. We&#39;re just getting started.&quot;3-D printers are common staples of makerspaces. Experiments done on the ISS with 3-D printers have proven their utility for manufacturing on-demand items, like replacement hardware. But if 3-D printing is to be a reliable tool for long-duration missions in space, a new problem crops up: the need to supply the ship with the feedstock for the printers.To meet this need, the authors envision using synthetic biology to produce custom biological &quot;ink&quot; to 3-D print whatever may be needed over the course of a mission. Such a process would give scientists &quot;the autonomy to design for the unknown,&quot; says Jessica Snyder, a USRA researcher who leads the synthetic biology task for the NASA Academic Mission Services.Living organisms can convert sunlight, nitrogen, and water into finished products. Bioengineers can reprogram the inner logic of these organisms&#39; cells to produce target compounds. The building blocks to edit these cells can be digitized and sent to the space crew in the form of a DNA sequence, which can be synthesized, assembled, and inserted into an organism on ship. &quot;The idea is what we call a &#39;bits-to-biology&#39; converter,&quot; says David Walsh, a bioengineer at Lincoln Laboratory.Here&#39;s one example of how this vision could be implemented: Say that astronauts faced a situation that occurred on the ISS in 2007 &mdash; a solar panel has torn and needs a repair strap. On Earth, synthetic biologists, whether of the DIY type or not, design and test genetic programs instructing bacteria to produce the polymer feedstock for 3-D printing. (This work could also take place well before the need arises during the space mission.) The maker community works out the design of a strap from those materials. These genetic instructions and 3-D printing instructions are sent digitally from Earth to the space crew. The crew reproduces the genetic program, and the bacteria reproduce and synthesize the raw materials, which are used to 3-D print the strap. At the end of the product&#39;s life cycle, the part is recovered and digested, and a new one can be made.&nbsp;&quot;We have the power of digital information. We can design and work out all of the kinks on Earth and simply send the instructions to space,&quot; Walsh says.The same principles can be used to insert DNA into organisms in space to make target compounds for food or pharmaceuticals, which if brought directly from Earth would degrade over time from radiation in space.&nbsp;Astronauts would be able to conduct these complex biology experiments by using 3-D-printed microfluidic devices. These tiny &quot;lab-on-a-chip&quot; devices automatically control the flow and mixture of fluids through microchannels and use only trace amounts of chemicals to run hundreds of bioreactions in parallel in seconds. Genetic instructions would be sent directly to electronics controlling these microfluidic devices, enabling them to precisely follow the digital &quot;recipe&quot; to synthetize molecules of DNA.&nbsp;Earlier this year, Lynn Rothschild, a scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center who co-authored the opinion piece, led a team that ran the first synthetic biology experiments in space. The experiments aimed to test how well bacteria in space take in synthetic DNA inserted into their genome and how well the bacteria produce proteins, while being spun to simulate microgravity (what astronauts in the ISS encounter), lunar gravity, and Martian gravity levels. The experiments took place on the PowerCell payload aboard the German satellite mission Eu:CROPIS (Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-Food Production in Space).There is still a long way to go, however, both in experimenting with synthetic biology and figuring out all of the parameters that would make 3-D printing with biomaterials possible in space. &quot;For example, bacteria will need water and will take up space; they need the right environment to live; and they&#39;ll produce waste. We still need to put these ideas up against the real-world constraints,&quot; Carr says.But there&#39;s urgency in developing the concepts now. If synthetic biology and 3-D printing techniques can be proven and practiced in time for missions close to Earth, from which supplies can still be sent relatively quickly, then they can be counted on for a long-term mission to Mars.&quot;Flexible manufacturing techniques provide an excellent complement to Earth-based supply chains for destinations days away, like the International Space Station and possible lunar infrastructure, for examples. Let&#39;s take advantage of this redundancy to build an in-space manufacturing capacity to take us further into space more safely,&quot; Snyder says. Do-it-yourself biologists and makers can help today by publishing their designs for 3-D-printed products, microfluidic devices, or synthetic DNA on open-source repositories and by testing and editing published designs. &quot;If DIY bio communities use, iteratively improve, and ultimately approve of a technique, then that technique has been optimized more robustly than most individuals or team could offer without great effort. Partnering with these communities is an invaluable asset,&quot; Snyder adds. People who are interested can also see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/index.html" target="_blank">NASA&#39;s Centennial Challenges</a>, which outline problems that NASA is seeking the public&#39;s help to solve.&nbsp;&quot;We often hear about the engineer who was inspired by NASA in their youth and works there now. But what about the bio people who are inspired by these grand ideas? How can they contribute? Now is a chance to transition their ideas to space,&quot; Carr says. &quot;There is so much opportunity to innovate.&quot;

Microfluidic devices, like those shown here, could be 3-D printed in space and used to construct DNA for insertion into bacteria, reprogramming them to make specific products.  Photo: Nicole Fandel

Do-it-yourself bio and maker communities can help NASA meet needs of long-distance missions.

Scientists look to synthetic biology and 3-D printing for life support in space

James Webb Space Telescope aims to take us to the unexplored realm of our cosmic origins. From observing the formation of the first stars and galaxies to looking for the possibility of life on other planets, the telescope will play a major role in the future of space exploration.

James Webb Space Telescope Science Instruments Explained

Humanity’s drive to explore has taken us across the solar system, with astronaut boots, various landers and rovers’ wheels exploring the surfaces of several different planetary bodies. These environments are generally hostile to human and equipment health, so designing and executing these missions requires a lot of planning, testing and technological development.You may have heard about the extensive <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/setmo/facilities/">testing facilities for spacecraft and equipment</a>, but how do scientists prepare for the human aspect of space exploration?One way to test out techniques and identify situations that may arise during a real mission is using a simulation, which in this field is more commonly <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/analog-missions/">known as an analog</a>. Researchers choose and design analog missions and environments to replicate elements of a real mission, using what is available here on Earth.These missions are conducted in extreme environments on Earth that are comparable to the Moon or Mars, in habitats designed to replicate living quarters, or a combination of both. Researchers can use analogs to study crew performance and procedures, or to test instruments <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7OdOiElbk">under development for use in space</a>.For example, operating a drill or wrench may seem easy here on Earth, but try doing the same task in thick gloves on a bulky, pressurized space suit in lower gravity. <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-innovative-tools-for-an-out-of-this-world-job/">Suddenly, things aren’t so straightforward</a>. Testing these scenarios on Earth allows researchers to identify necessary changes before launch. The analogs can also train crew members who will one day undertake the actual mission.I’m a planetary scientist, which means I study the geology of other planets. Currently, I study environments on Earth that are similar to other planets to improve our understanding of their counterparts elsewhere in the solar system. I participated as a volunteer in one of these analog missions as an “analog astronaut,” serving as the crew geologist and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ww-fObYAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">applying my prior research findings</a> from studying the <a href="https://npp.orau.org/experiences/jordan-bretzfelder.html">surfaces of the Moon and Mars</a>.These analog missions vary in setting, length and intensity, but all aim to learn more about the human factors involved in space exploration.<h2>Where Do We Send Them?</h2>Analog missions are designed to simulate the crew’s experience in a given mission plan. In some cases, they simulate surface operations on the Moon or Mars for up to a year. Others might replicate the experience of being in transit to Mars for a period of time, followed by the crew “landing” and exploring the surface.NASA uses several analog mission facilities spread across the world. For example, the <a href="https://mars-desert-research-station.raisely.com/MDRS">Mars Desert Research Station</a> in Utah is located in an environment chosen to imitate conditions on Mars, while <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/analog-field-testing/neemo/about-neemo-nasa-extreme-environment-mission-operations/">analog missions at Aquarius</a>, an undersea research station off the coast of Florida, help scientists learn about crew behavior and psychology in a confined habitat located in a hostile environment.Some natural environments are commonly used for analog operations, such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/nasa-field-geology-training-prepares-artemis-mission-support-teams/">volcanic terrains</a> in the western U.S., <a href="https://st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/apollo-astronauts-train-nevada-test-site">human-made craters in Nevada</a>, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZwa5kEaNTY">natural meteor crater in Arizona</a> <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/antarctic-stations/">and research stations in Antarctica</a>. These locations mirror the geologic settings the crews are likely to encounter on future missions, and so training in these locations helps them execute the actual missions.I participated in a simulated 28-day lunar surface mission at a facility called <a href="https://www.hi-seas.org/">Hi-SEAS</a> as part of <a href="https://www.sift.net/research/computational-social-science/medulla">a study on crew dynamics and psychology</a> in extreme isolation. The facility is located on Mauna Loa, a volcano on the big island of Hawaii. This habitat has been used for a variety of studies, as the volcanic terrain is reminiscent of both the Moon and parts of Mars, and the isolated location simulates being in space.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1761757922979-ezgif-89230ebae26641.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />The HI-SEAS Habitat, which recreates the conditions of living and working on the Moon, is located in Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Jordan Bretzfelder<h2 id="isPasted">Analog Mission Crews</h2>Most missions require applicants to hold relevant degrees. They must undergo physical health and psychiatric evaluations, with the goal being to select individuals with <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/become-an-astronaut/">similar backgrounds</a> to those in the astronaut corps. The ideal crew is typically made up of participants who work and live well with others, and can stay cool under stress.Crews also include at least one person with medical training for emergencies, as well as a variety of scientists and engineers to operate the habitat’s life support systems.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1761757966343-ezgif-82c03ff99e9e0b.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />Special suits were required whenever researchers left the habitat. They consisted of flight suits, protective pads, thick motorcycle gloves and a modified helmet with an air pump unit attached, housed in a backpack. Ensuring the suits and air systems were functioning before and during these short expeditions was critical. Jordan BretzfelderThe experiences of each crew varies, depending on the mission design, location and makeup of the crew. My mission was designed so that the six crew members would not have any information about our crewmates until we arrived in Hawaii for training. In addition to geology expertise, I also have some medical training as <a href="https://wildmed.com/courses/standard/5-day-wilderness-first-responder/">a Wilderness First Responder</a>, so I was there to assist with any medical issues.<h2>Daily Life On An Analog Mission</h2>Once in Hawaii, the crew spent three days learning how to operate the habitat systems, including the hydroponic garden and solar panels. We practiced emergency procedures and were taught how to perform other tasks.After that orientation, we were deployed to the habitat for 28 days. We turned in our phones to mission control and could only access the internet to check emails or use a few preapproved websites required for our daily duties. Our days were scheduled with tasks from wake up, about 6:30 a.m., to lights out, about 10 p.m.The tasks included a variety of exercises to assess individual and group performance. They included individual assessments – similar to a daily IQ test – and group computer-based tasks, <a href="https://www.sift.net/demos/medulla-cubecrusher">such as team 3D Tetris</a>. The researchers remotely monitored our interactions during these activities, and the results were analyzed as the mission progressed. They used our fluctuating performance on these activities as a proxy for estimating stress levels, group cohesion and individual well-being.Additionally, we went on two-to-three-hour extra-vehicular activities, or excursions outside the habitat, on alternating days. During these expeditions, we conducted geologic investigations on the volcano. On our “off days,” we spent two hours exercising in the habitat. We had to be fully suited in a mock spacesuit any time we went outside, and we had to be careful about the airlock procedures. We were never outdoors alone.We could only eat freeze-dried and powdered foods, aside from what we were able to grow in the hydroponic system. We had no additional food delivered during our stay. Water was also rationed, meaning we had to find innovative ways to maintain personal hygiene. For example, a bucket shower one or two times per week was allowed, supplemented by “wilderness wipe” baths. As someone with a lot of very curly hair, I was happy to figure out a method for managing it using less than two liters of water per week. We were also permitted to do laundry once during our stay, as a group. Sorting through your crewmates’ wet clothes was certainly one way to bond.Though physically demanding at times, the workload was not unreasonable. We were kept busy all day, as certain everyday tasks, such as cooking, required more effort than they might need in our normal lives. Preparing nutritionally balanced and palatable meals while rationing our very limited resources was hard, but it also provided opportunities to get creative with recipes and ingredients. We even managed to bake a cake for a crew member’s birthday, using peanut butter protein and cocoa powders to flavor it.After dinner each night, we shared the pre-saved movies and shows we had each brought with us into the habitat, as we could not access the internet. Those of us who had brought physical copies of books into the habitat would trade those as well. One crew member managed to acquire a downloadable form of <a href="https://mashable.com/article/wordle-word-game-what-is-it-explained">the daily Wordle</a>, so we could still compete with our friends back home. We also played board games, and all of these activities helped us get to know each other.Though different from our typical daily lives, the experience was one of a kind. We had the satisfaction of knowing that our efforts advanced space exploration in its own small way, one IQ test and slapdash cake at a time.

Analog missions, like those conducted at NASA’s CHAPEA facility at the Johnson Space Center, help scientists study human spaceflight without leaving Earth. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Humanity's drive to explore has taken us across the solar system, with astronaut boots, various landers and rovers' wheels exploring the surfaces of several different planetary bodies.

Space Exploration in the Backyard, On a Budget – How NASA Simulates Conditions in Space Without Blasting Off

Spirals of solar wind can spin off larger solar eruptions and disrupt Earth’s magnetic field, yet they are too difficult to detect with our current single-location warning system, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. But a constellation of spacecraft, including one that sails on sunlight, could help find the tornado-like features in time to protect equipment on Earth and in orbit. The study results come from computer simulations of a massive cloud of plasma erupting from the sun and moving through the solar system. Because the simulation covers features that span distances three times Earth’s diameter down to thousands of miles, the researchers could determine how smaller, tornado-like spirals of plasma and magnetic field—called flux ropes—become concerning features in their own right.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x4pLV-qpdNo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0"></iframe>“Our simulation shows that the magnetic field in these vortices can be strong enough to trigger a geomagnetic storm and cause some real trouble,” said <a href="https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/people/manchester-ward-b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chip Manchester</a>, research professor of climate and space sciences and engineering and the corresponding author of the study published in the Astrophysical Journal.In May 2024, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/what-nasa-is-learning-from-the-biggest-geomagnetic-storm-in-20-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a geomagnetic storm</a> tripped high-voltage power lines, disrupted satellite orbits,and forced some airplanes to change course. It also scrambled navigation systems on tractors in the Midwest, which NASA says cost each affected farm $17,000 in damages, on average. For both scientific curiosity and better warning systems ahead of these events, NASA and the National Science Foundation funded this U-M study.Geomagnetic storms are triggered by magnetic fields in the solar wind, a bubble of plasma that flows outward from the sun and envelops the solar system. Like wind on Earth, the solar wind blows in varying patterns that comprise space weather. Eruptions at the sun create the most extreme space weather—dense, fast-moving clouds of plasma called coronal mass ejections that span <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007GL032045" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">34 million miles, on average</a>. But scientists have also noticed relatively small flux ropes in the solar wind, between 3,000 and 6 million miles wide. These features are too small for typical simulations of coronal mass ejections, which could only produce features larger than 7 million miles wide, but they are also too large for simulations often used to study magnetic fields and plasma particles in the solar wind. The new simulation allows researchers to see these features of intermediate size along with large coronal mass ejections.The U-M simulation suggested that the tornado-like flux ropes form out of the coronal mass ejections as they drive through slower solar wind, flinging aside spinning masses of plasma like a snowplow tossing snow. Some tornadoes dissipate, but more persistent vortices can form during collisions with neighboring streams of fast and slow solar wind. <a href="https://sci.esa.int/web/soho/-/47806-lasco-c2-image-of-a-cme" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Telescopes pointing at the sun</a> look for eruptions to warn of bad space weather, but for flux ropes, the researchers say that’s not enough.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1759794631015-Coronal-mass-ejection-solar-sail.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />A computer-generated image shows where rotating magnetic fields form at the edges of a coronal mass ejection 15 hours after a solar eruption. The coronal mass ejection is the large bubble extending from the sun at the left edge of the image. Two streams of plasma extend from the edge of the coronal mass ejection as it hits neighboring streams of fast and slow solar wind. Shades of red and yellow depict the strength and orientation of the plasma’s magnetic field (labeled “Bz” in the figure legend). Shades of red represent plasma that could trigger geomagnetic storms if it hits Earth, while shades of yellow represent plasma with a strong, positive orientation. The red-brown circle around the sun shows the area not covered by the simulation, about ten million miles wide. ILLUSTRATION: Chip Manchester, University of Michigan.“If there are hazards forming out in space between the sun and Earth, we can’t just look at the sun,” said study co-author <a href="https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/people/akhavan-tafti-mojtaba/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti</a>, associate research scientist of climate and space sciences and engineering. “This is a matter of national security. We need to proactively find structures like these Earth-bound flux ropes and predict what they will look like at Earth to make reliable space weather warnings for electric grid planners, airline dispatchers and farmers.”The solar wind can only trigger geomagnetic storms when its magnetic field has a strong southward orientation. Spacecraft stationed between Earth and the sun already help scientists make space weather warnings by measuring the speed of the solar wind, as well as the strength and direction of its magnetic field. But a solar eruption aimed away from Earth, or with northward-pointing magnetic fields, might still toss vortices with southward-pointing magnetic fields toward Earth. Those tornadoes would go unnoticed if they miss the probes stationed at L1.“Imagine if you could only monitor a hurricane remotely with the measurements from one wind gauge,” Manchester said. “You’d see a change in the measurements, but you wouldn’t see the storm’s entire structure. That’s the current situation with single-spacecraft systems. We need viewpoints from multiple space weather stations.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1759794652994-Flux-rope-CME-nose-solar-sail.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />A computer-generated image shows how the stream of plasma extending from the coronal mass ejection stirs up tornado-like flux ropes 40 hours after the initial eruption. The tornadoes appear as vortices in the image because the columns extend toward the viewer. The tip of the plasma stream that originates from the coronal mass ejection is in yellow, and the two other flux ropes are shown as red spirals below and to the right of the yellow plasma. Shades of red and yellow depict the strength and orientation of the plasma’s magnetic field (labeled “Bz” in the figure legend). Shades of red represent plasma that could trigger geomagnetic storms if it hits Earth, while shades of yellow represent plasma with a strong, positive orientation. ILLUSTRATION: Chip Manchester, University of Michigan.The researchers hope to provide that multiprobe view of solar tornadoes with a constellation of spacecraft called the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576525004679?casa_token=yUyz-vvoLK0AAAAA:GxeOGLTgBp2s-eD-Y24sXDMSfYoygvn49nmRD6Z75fN4MrQXk1Pq5UITL7DDpKGN0KF4IqnnEv4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Space Weather Investigation Frontier,</a> or SWIFT, which was developed in a NASA mission concept study led by Akhavan-Tafti.In the current proposal, four probes would be stationed in a triangular-pyramid formation, around 200,000 miles apart. Three identical probes would occupy each corner of the pyramid’s base, located in a plane around L1. A final “hub spacecraft,” located beyond L1, would serve as the pyramid’s apex, pointing toward the sun. This configuration would allow SWIFT to see how the solar wind changes on its way to Earth, and its hub closer to the sun could make space weather warnings 40% faster.The apex’s location would normally require an impractical amount of fuel to fight the sun’s gravity, but NASA engineers, through their <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/programs/technology/solar-cruiser/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solar Cruiser mission</a>, designed an aluminum sail that could enable the probe to park beyond L1. The sail would cover about a third of a football field, allowing it to catch enough photons to maintain the spacecraft’s position without burning fuel.

A spacecraft that sails on light could provide new vantage point on solar eruptions that can disrupt modern electrical and navigation systems.

We need a solar sail probe to detect space tornadoes

In space, maintenance isn't possible, so satellites must operate reliably for their entire mission. This makes fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) a critical requirement in satellite design.

Designing Space Systems With Integrated FDIR: A Guide to TI's Space-Grade Components

Between 50 and 100 kilometers (30-60 miles) above Earth’s surface lies a largely unstudied stretch of the atmosphere, called the mesosphere. It’s too high for airplanes and weather balloons, too low for satellites, and nearly impossible to monitor with existing technology. But understanding this layer of the atmosphere could improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and climate models.A new study <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09281-8" target="_blank">published in Nature</a> by researchers at the <a href="https://seas.harvard.edu/">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)</a>, University of Chicago, and others introduces a novel way to reach this unexplored near-space zone: lightweight flying structures that can float using nothing but sunlight. “We are studying this strange physics mechanism called photophoresis and its ability to levitate very lightweight objects when you shine light on them,” said Ben Schafer, lead author of the paper and a former Harvard graduate student in the research groups of Joost Vlassak, the Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Materials Engineering at SEAS, and David Keith, now a professor at the University of Chicago. <h2>How photophoresis works</h2>Photophoresis occurs when gas molecules bounce more forcefully off the warm side of an object than the cool side, creating continuous momentum and lift. This effect only happens in extreme low-pressure environments, which are exactly the conditions found in the mesosphere.The researchers built thin, centimeter-scale membranes from ceramic alumina, with a layer of chromium on the bottom to absorb sunlight. When light hits this structure, the heat difference between the top and bottom surfaces initiates a photophoretic lifting force, which exceeds the structure’s weight.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1755463800662-photophoresis_air_flow.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />An illustration of air flow around a flying device. Credit: Ben Schafer and Jong-hyoung Kim.“This phenomenon is usually so weak relative to the size and weight of the object it’s acting on that we usually don’t notice it,” Schafer said. “However, we are able to make our structures so lightweight that the photophoretic force is bigger than their weight, so they fly.The concept originated more than a decade ago when Keith hypothesized different uses of photophoretic particles, including their potential to reduce climate warming. A collaboration began with then-graduate student Schafer, and Vlassak, an expert in nanofabrication and experimental mechanics, in order to help move the concepts from theory to reality.The collaboration became feasible through recent advances in nanofabrication technology, which allow researchers to build low-mass, nanoscale devices with greater precision.“We developed a nanofabrication process that can be scaled to tens of centimeters,” Vlassak said. “These devices are quite resilient and have unusual mechanical behavior for sandwich structures. We are currently working on methods to incorporate functional payloads into the devices.”<h2>Testing devices in the lab</h2>Using these fabrication methods, the research team created centimeter-scale structures and directly measured the photophoretic forces acting on them inside a low-pressure chamber Schafer and former Harvard postdoctoral fellow Jong-hyoung Kim built in Vlassak’s lab. They compared those results to predictions of how such structures would behave in the upper atmosphere. Device design and fabrication were led by Kim, who is now a professor at Pukyong National University in South Korea.  “This paper is both theoretical and experimental in the sense that we reimagined how this force is calculated on real devices and then validated those forces by applying measurements to real-world conditions,” Schafer said.  A key experiment detailed in the paper shows a 1-centimeter-wide structure levitating at an air pressure of 26.7 Pascals when exposed to light at just 55% the intensity of sunlight. This pressure condition models what’s found 60 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1755463834864-photophoresis_levitation_demo.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />Time-lapse photos of a real structure flying when illuminated. Credit: Ben Schafer, Jong-hyoung Kim, and Gyeong-Seok Hwang. “This is the first time anyone has shown that you can build larger photophoretic structures and actually make them fly in the atmosphere,” said Keith. “It opens up an entirely new class of device: one that’s passive, sunlight-powered, and uniquely suited to explore our upper atmosphere. Later they might fly on Mars or other planets.”<h2>Possible applications: Sensing, communication, Martian exploration</h2>The team envisions a range of possible applications for their new device, especially in climate science. If equipped with lightweight sensors, this device could collect key data like wind speed, pressure, and temperature from a region of the atmosphere that has long remained a blind spot. This data is critical for calibrating the climate models that build the foundation of weather forecasting and climate change projections. Other potential applications include telecommunications for defense and emergency response scenarios. Using a fleet of these devices could enable a floating array of antennas with data transmission capabilities comparable to low orbit satellites like Starlink, but with lower latency due to their closer proximity to the ground.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1755463858883-photophoresis_use_cases.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" />An illustration of the devices' use cases. Credit: Ben Schafer and Jong-hyoung Kim. Since Earth’s upper atmosphere shares key characteristics with the thin atmosphere of Mars, the device could facilitate new modes of planetary exploration and communication in that environment as well.The team’s next step is to integrate onboard communications payloads that would allow the device to transmit real-time data during flight.  “I think what makes this research fun is that the technology could be used to explore an entirely unexplored region of the atmosphere. Previously, nothing could sustainably fly up there,” Schafer said. “It’s a bit like the Wild West in terms of applied physics."<blockquote>The technology could be used to explore an entirely unexplored region of the atmosphere. Previously, nothing could sustainably fly up there. It’s a bit like the Wild West in terms of applied physics.&lt;article&gt;&lt;div&gt;- Ben Schafer, First author, former Harvard graduate student&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/article&gt;</blockquote>Research described in the paper formed the building blocks of a Harvard spinoff company, Rarefied Technologies, that Schafer and co-founder Angela Feldhaus launched in 2024. Harvard Office of Technology Development provided business development support to the research team and licensed the innovations to Rarefied Technologies for further development.The research was supported by the Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research at Harvard and the Harvard Grid Accelerator. It had federal support from the Harvard University Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (DMR-2011754), funded by the National Science Foundation. The devices were fabricated at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems, also supported by NSF (ECCS Grant No. 1541959).

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