npj Microgravity considers all aspects of research that enables spaceflight and space exploration and the challenges of operating in space environments, including planetary surfaces. 

The journal covers a broad range of topics including but not limited to: 

    Space medicine and health maintenance
    Biomedical responses and adaptations to space environments 
    Human factors and psychological aspects of long-duration space missions
    Plant biology and growth in reduced gravity
    Microbial behaviour in space
    Fluid dynamics physics
    Complex fluids
    Fundamental physics
    Materials science and manufacturing
    In-space manufacturing
    In-situ resource utilization
    Engineering technology
    Space biotechnology and applications
    Space agriculture and food production
    Effects of radiation and radiation shielding in space environments
    Space technology and hardware development
    Combustion science
    Space biology and astrobiology
    Space environmental monitoring and contamination control
    Sustainable space exploration, environmental impact, and responsible resource management
    Collaborative efforts and international spaceflight and exploration partnerships

The journal offers more choice to Nature Portfolio authors who are seeking a fully open-access and more inclusive platform for publishing their work. The journal is led by spaceflight experts who collaborate to cultivate high-quality research. As part of the npj Series, this journal focuses on fostering global partnerships with the research community and other Springer Nature journals.

Article, Brief Communication, Comment, Editorial, Matters Arising, Meeting Report, Perspective, Review

Editor-in-Chief
Cheryl A. Nickerson, PhD
Professor of Life Sciences, Biodesign Institute
Arizona State University
AZ, USA
 
Cheryl's multidisciplinary research blends microbiology, tissue engineering and physics to mimic the dynamic interactions between the host, its microenvironment and the pathogen that led to infection and disease. She focuses on bacterial pathogen and human host cellular and molecular responses to physical forces that are physiologically relevant to those found in vivo during the natural course of infection, and how these responses are related to infectious disease. Her team has developed several innovative model pathogenesis systems to study these processes, including 3-D organotypic tissue culture models as predictive platforms to study host-pathogen interactions, and approaches that characterize pathogen responses to physiological fluid shear forces encountered in the infected host, as well as in the microgravity environment of spaceflight. 
Deputy Editor
Mark Ott, PhD
Technical Lead, Microbiology Laboratory
NASA Johnson Space Center
TX, USA
 
Mark is Technical Lead of the Microbiology Laboratory and Chair of the Biosafety Review Board at the NASA Johnson Space Center (United States). Mark oversees microbial monitoring of mission operations and has research expertise in the areas of microbial ecology of spacecraft, human and microbial responses to spaceflight and the development of advanced tissue culture models to investigate infectious disease.
Associate Editors
Jennifer Barrila, PhD
Assistant Research Professor, Biodesign Institute
Arizona State University
AZ, USA


Jennifer's research focuses on how physiologically relevant biomechanical forces, such as fluid shear, regulate microbial pathogenesis and host responses to infection. She has also developed and applied advanced 3-D tissue models to study host-microbe interactions. Jennifer oversees the journal’s content in microbiology and pathogenesis.
Eleanor A. Blakely, PhD
Senior Staff Biophysicist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California Berkeley
CA, USA
 
Eleanor is a Senior Staff Biophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley, Faculty Affiliate at Colorado State University and Clinical Professor of Radiation Medicine at Loma Linda University, School of Medicine (United States). Her research focuses on the basic mechanisms of radiation responses, with an emphasis on charged particle radiation effects. Eleanor oversees the journal’s content in radiation responses.
Alexander Chouker, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
University of Munich
Munich, Germany
 
Alexander is Professor and clinical specialist in Anesthesiology at the Munich´s University hospital. He is heading the Laboratory of Translational Research "Stress and Immunity” with a focus on clinical immunology. He has been PI and science coordinator of international research projects on the ISS, in space analogue environments and clinical settings. He is chairing the interdisciplinary European Space Agency (ESA) Topical Team “Stress Challenges and Immunity in Space." Alexander oversees the journal’s content in human physiology.
Atsushi Higashitani, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular and Chemical Life Sciences
Tohoku University
Tohoku, Japan

Atsushi is a Professor at Tohoku University and has previously served on the faculty at National Institute of Genetics (Japan). His research focuses on biological responses to environmental stress (including those during spaceflight) and aging in the experimental model organisms, Caenorhabditis elegans and Arabidopsis thaliana. Atsushi oversees the journal’s content in animal models to study stress in spaceflight.
Andrew Lee, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Opthalmology
Houston Methodist Hospital
TX, USA

Andrew is a Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology and Neurosurgery, at Weill Cornell Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center and adjunct professor at Baylor College of Medicine and the Center for Space Medicine (United States). Andrew oversees the journal’s content in neuroscience, particularly content involving neuro-ophthalmology.
David Mendoza-Cozatl, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of Plant Sciences
University of Missouri
MO, USA
 
David is an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri. His research focuses on understanding how plants take up, accumulate and transport trace metals and macronutrients between roots and leaves and from leaves to seeds. David oversees the journal’s content in plant biology.
Brian Motil, PhD
Chief, Thermal Systems and Transport Processes Branch
NASA Glenn Research Center
OH, USA
 
Brian's research focuses on fluid physics in the microgravity environment. Until recently, he served as the discipline lead for microgravity fluid physics at NASA Glenn where he oversaw the design, development and implementation of NASA funded research in fluid and thermal transport, for platforms such as drop towers, parabolic flight aircraft, sounding rockets and the ISS. Brian oversees the journal’s content in microgravity fluid physics.
Neal Pellis, PhD
Division of Space Life Sciences
Universities Space Research Association
TX, USA
 
Neal is an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Previously, he was a faculty member of University of Texas Medical School and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Thereafter he was Director of NASA’s Biotechnology Cell Science Program and then Director of Space Life Sciences at Universities Space Research Association. Neal oversees the journal’s content in immunology and cell biology.
Lori Ploutz-Snyder, PhD
Dean, School of Kinesiology
University of Michigan
MI, USA

Lori is a Professor of Movement Science and Dean of the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. She was the Lead Scientist for the Exercise Physiology and Countermeasures Project at the NASA Johnson Space Center. She is one of the world leaders for her innovative models to understand the effects of unloading on muscle function and bone composition and how to counteract the negative effects. Her work aims to improve the physiologic function of astronauts during space flight. Lori oversees the journal's content in muscle and bone physiology.
Paul Steen, PhD
Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Cornell University
NY, USA

Paul is a Professor at Cornell University (United States) and holds the Maxwell M. Upson Chair in Engineering. His research focuses on the nonlinear dynamics and stability of fluid systems, especially those where surface tension plays a dominant role as in the shaping of liquid and gas phases in two-phase flows at high speeds. Paul oversees the journal’s content in dynamical fluid physics in the microgravity environment.
 Editorial Board Members
Mina Bissell, PhD, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CA, USA
Marjan Boerma, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR, USA
Sven Bossuyt, PhD, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Donald H. Burke, PhD, University of Missouri, MO, USA
Aurélie Crabbé, PhD, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
Douglas Durian, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Hans Fecht, PhD, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Nandu Goswami, PhD, Medical University of Graz, Austria
Rasha Hammamieh, PhD, US Army Medical Research and Material Command, USACEHR, MD, USA
Martina Heer, PhD, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
John Z. Kiss, PhD, University of North Carolina, NC, USA
Sandra Magnus, PhD, The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), VA, USA
Xiao Wen Mao, MD, Loma Linda University, CA, USA
Douglas M. Matson, PhD, Tufts University, MA, USA
Chiaki Mukai, MD, PhD, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tokyo, Japan
Sundeep Mukherjee, PhD, University of North Texas, TX, USA
Henry K. Nahra, PhD, NASA Glenn Research Center, OH, USA
Eric Nauman, PhD, Purdue University, IN, USA
Nimesh Patel, PhD, University of Houston, TX, USA
Robert J. Ploutz-Snyder, PhD, University of Michigan, MI, USA
D. Marshall Porterfield, PhD, Purdue University, IN, USA
Antonio J. Ricco, PhD, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA; and Stanford University, CA, USA
Kevin Sato, PhD, Wyle Science, Technology and Engineering, NASA Ames Research Center, CA, USA
Mark Shelhamer, Sc.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, TX, USA
Scott M. Smith, PhD, NASA Johnson Space Center, TX, USA
Phillip Stafford, PhD, Caris Life Sciences, AZ, USA
Jekan Thangavelautham, PhD, Arizona State University, AZ, USA
Stephen Tse, PhD, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
James Wilson, PhD, Villanova University, PA, USA
Sara R. Zwart, PhD, Universities Space Research Association (USRA), TX, USA