Low-Cost Microscope Enables Zero-Gravity Cell Study

Researchers build affordable, rugged microscope to observe cellular changes in microgravity conditions.

Feb. 22, 2026 at 12:16am

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A team of researchers has developed a low-cost, durable microscope called FlightScope that can image cells in real-time during the chaotic conditions of zero-gravity flight. The microscope was designed to make microgravity research more accessible, allowing scientists to study how the absence of gravity affects cellular processes like insulin signaling. FlightScope has already been used on parabolic flights and in an analog lunar environment, and the team plans to send it on sounding rockets for extended microgravity experiments.

Why it matters

Understanding how cells behave in space is crucial for astronaut health and the development of microorganisms that could power life support systems on long-duration space missions. By creating a more affordable and accessible microscope for microgravity research, this work could help accelerate discoveries that prepare humanity for life beyond Earth.

The details

The researchers based their FlightScope design on an open-source microscope from Stanford, making it more rugged and lower-cost to withstand the punishing conditions of parabolic flights. The microscope includes rigid mountings, vibration dampeners, and a custom fluid-handling system to rapidly switch between experiments during the brief periods of weightlessness. Using yeast as a model organism, the team successfully captured images of cells taking up fluorescently labeled glucose molecules, observing that the uptake appeared slower in microgravity compared to normal gravity conditions.

  • The research was previously published in npj Microgravity.
  • The findings will be presented at the 70th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco from February 21–25, 2026.
  • The FlightScope microscope has already been used on parabolic flights and in an analog lunar environment at the Boulby salt mine in the UK.
  • The team is now developing another version of the microscope to fly on a sounding rocket, which will provide about two minutes of microgravity.

The players

Adam Wollman

An Assistant Professor at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom who led the development of the FlightScope microscope.

European Space Agency

The space agency that selected the FlightScope microscope to fly on a parabolic flight, also known as the "vomit comet".

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What they’re saying

“We know that astronauts' cellular signaling processes—like insulin signaling—are affected by being in zero gravity. But no one had tried to look at this in a simple, stripped-down system. We wanted to watch a cell sensing and responding to a signal in zero gravity to see exactly what happens.”

— Adam Wollman, Assistant Professor, Newcastle University

“We wanted to make something more democratic, where other researchers could do microgravity experiments that require microscopy. We based our design on an open-source microscope from Stanford and made it lower cost and more accessible.”

— Adam Wollman, Assistant Professor, Newcastle University

What’s next

The team is now developing another version of the FlightScope microscope to fly on a sounding rocket, which will provide about two minutes of microgravity for extended experiments.

The takeaway

By creating a more affordable and accessible microscope for microgravity research, this work could help accelerate discoveries that prepare humanity for life beyond Earth, informing both astronaut health and the development of microorganisms to power life support systems on long-duration space missions.