Space Sensory Lab

A translational neurosensory platform designed to improve intergalactic wellness

Person standing on a hill at night under a star-filled sky with the Milky Way galaxy visible.

The Mission

In space, food is more than fuel—it's culture, cognition, and connection.

As missions extend deeper into isolation, sensory design becomes mission-critical infrastructure. The stakes are clear: without intentional design for taste, aroma, texture, and context, we risk astronaut health, morale, and performance over months or years in microgravity.

We’re building the science of eating in space—human-centered, cross-modal, and grounded in how perception, appetite, mood, and resilience actually work beyond Earth.

The Problem

Microgravity disrupts sensory perception—flattening flavor, dulling smell, distorting texture. These changes reduce appetite, degrade mood, and impair cognition, yet no current space health systems address sensory recovery or neurocognitive resilience. For long-duration missions (Artemis, Gateway, Mars), this gap becomes critical.

Despite its importance, sensory science in microgravity remains underexplored. Critical questions persist about how space environment factors (microgravity, elevated CO₂, radiation) affect chemosensory systems, olfactory receptor behavior, neural adaptation, and cross-modal perception.

The Solution

The Space Sensory Lab is a modular neurosensory toolkit—protocols, diagnostics, and training systems that plug into existing biomedical experiments, pharma payloads, or biomanufacturing platforms in orbit.

This roadmap integrates fundamental and translational studies with three priority areas:

  1. Baseline characterization — understanding how taste, smell, and retronasal perception adapt or degrade over time in microgravity

  2. Mechanistic studies — probing olfactory receptor behavior, odorant transport in microgravity, neural adaptation, and cross-modal perception (flavor, touch, sound, temperature interactions)

  3. Countermeasure development — designing sensory training protocols, adaptive flavor systems, and diagnostics to mitigate sensory decline

Think of it as the "neurosensory layer" for:

  • Food & beverage systems

  • Cognitive performance studies

  • Astronaut health protocols

  • Biomanufacturing and pharma development

  • Environmental monitoring

  • Joy

Core Components

  • Adaptive Sensory Kits

    • Function: Flavor/smell stimuli in microgravity-optimized formats (sprays, droppers, scent strips)

    • Application: Assess perception variability; support appetite, mood, sensory plasticity

  • Retronasal Training Protocols

    • Function: Guided neuroplasticity-based flavor cognition exercises

    • Application: Cognitive stimulation; countermeasure for sensory loss or monotony

  • AI-Informed Diagnostics

    • Function: Tablet-based or sensor-linked perception tracking (language, biometrics, behavior)

    • Application: Passive monitoring for neurocognitive shifts or early decline indicators

  • Cross-Modal Tools

    • Function: Light, sound, scent integrations across sensory domains

    • Application: Behavioral regulation; resilience in high-stress, long-duration missions

Why This Matters

  • Sensory diagnostics = non-invasive biomarkers
    Subtle changes in smell/taste perception correlate with neurodegeneration, immune response, and psychological status—offering early detection signals without blood draws or imaging.

  • Dual-use commercial value
    Everything deployed in space translates to Earth applications: aging populations, post-COVID anosmia recovery, chemotherapy side effects, cognitive therapy, and multisensory product design.

  • Complements existing research
    Like a PCR module or lab-on-a-chip, the Space Sensory Lab is lightweight, protocol-ready, and scientifically grounded—designed to deliver behavioral and perceptual data that enriches physiological and pharmacological outcomes.

  • Built on validated approaches
    We leverage clinical studies, self-reported longitudinal data, and other interim environments as stepping stones before full in-space experiments, addressing key challenges including delivery mechanisms, inter-individual variation, and session optimization.

What We're Seeking

  • Collaborative partnership for Phase II (2o26-2027) pilot deployment

  • Engineering expertise to space-optimize kit formats and delivery mechanisms

  • Co-development opportunity for protocols, onboard evaluation, and joint publication outcomes

  • Interdisciplinary collaboration across sensory scientists, chemists, engineers, neuroscientists, and space agencies to build experimental infrastructure and normative datasets

    The Plug-In Advantage

Lightweight • Protocol-Ready • Scientifically Grounded

Just as standard lab modules integrate into ISS experiment racks, the Space Sensory Lab slots seamlessly into existing space research infrastructure—adding a critical neurocognitive dimension to human health science.

Join Us

We're actively seeking partners to advance this work through:

  • Exploratory conversations to identify integration opportunities within your existing research programs

  • Funding support for Phase II deployment, protocol validation, and flight-readiness testing

  • In-kind contributions, including engineering expertise, payload access, crew time, or facility integration support


Whether you're interested in co-developing protocols, hosting pilot studies, or exploring commercial applications, we welcome the opportunity to discuss how the Space Sensory Lab can complement and enhance your mission objectives. Contact us to explore partnership opportunities and shape the future of neurosensory health in space.