When it comes to game-changing technology that can advance our exploration of space, most people wouldn’t think of an X-ray machine as a critical piece of tech to pack onboard a spacecraft or install in an astronaut habitat.
After all, X-rays are so old. We’ve known about them for well over a century, since their discovery in 1895 by German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen. Yet far from being considered obsolete tech, X-ray machines remain the gold standard for many types of diagnostic imaging.
Having such a device on board a spacecraft or space station, or even installed at a base on another world, could be a real boon for maintaining astronauts' health. X-ray imagers could also help examine equipment, systems, and samples acquired during missions.
Why X-Rays Don’t Work in Space
To date, astronauts have mainly had ultrasound imaging available to them on the International Space Station (ISS) and on various missions. Ultrasound certainly has its uses, but as a medical diagnostic tool, it can require extensive training to use properly and interpret results. What’s more, whether in space or on Earth, ultrasound isn't ideal for certain types of deep scanning, especially of hard tissue like bones.
That’s a problem, particularly off-planet, because bone health is a critical factor to monitor in space. Optimum human bone density and strength require gravity and regular weight-bearing activities — two things in short supply in the microgravity environment of space, where humans can quickly lose as much as 1 to 2 percent of bone density per month on long-duration missions, according to NASA.
Explore All OptionsMedical researchers have long known the value of X-ray imaging in diagnosing and maintaining optimum bone health, but the notion of readying the technology for use in space has come with its own challenges, including the size, weight, and power requirements of most machines, as well as the risk of damaging the device on launch or re-entry.
“Also, in microgravity, when everything and everyone is moving, getting a clear, non-blurry X-ray of a person or object was considered challenging at best,” Sheyna Gifford, physician, aerospace researcher, and assistant professor of aerospace, occupational, and preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic, told Discover. “For a long time, the assumptions were that X-ray imaging in space just wasn’t going to work. As we’re showing now, that’s not really the case.”
Testing X-Rays in Microgravity
Gifford is part of SpaceXray, a research initiative of scientists, private industry, and technology innovators looking to expand space medicine to meet the future needs of crews deployed on bases, stations, and long-term space missions. Working with companies such as MinXray, a Chicago-area developer of portable, battery- and solar-powered X-ray imaging devices, Gifford and the SpaceXray team have spent the past few years studying the viability of taking clinically useful X-rays in microgravity.
“The main challenges have revolved around technology and training,” Gifford told Discover. “You need to have good equipment that’s relatively easy to use [in microgravity], and a crew that can be trained to use the device.”
In 2022, during a parabolic plane flight that simulated a microgravity environment, the intrepid Gifford volunteered for the mission herself, using her own hand as the subject of the first clear X-ray of human bones taken in such an environment. That success led to an ultra-portable, high-speed digital MinXray device being put aboard a real space flight, Fram2, the privatized orbital mission launched by SpaceX in March of 2025.
During that mission, the crew — who were not professional radiologists and only had about four hours of training on the device — successfully used the digital X-ray imager to quickly capture clear pictures of bones in a human hand, torso, and pelvis, as well as the interior of small equipment and tools, such as a smartwatch. All images were recorded digitally and reviewed by radiologists back on Earth, who confirmed the X-rays were clear enough to be useful in a diagnostic setting. The results of this historic test were published in July 2026 in the journal Radiology.
The Way Forward
Thanks to this research, a new generation of smaller, faster, easier-to-use X-ray imaging devices can finally show the way forward to put this technology not only in space but in remote locations and communities here on Earth.
“Supporting the health of future space explorers is important, of course,” Gifford said. “But if we can make the equipment lighter and more portable for space, why can’t we also get that equipment to underserved communities where simple, effective X-ray diagnostics can help save lives?”
It’s a question that Gifford and future researchers intend to explore. Meanwhile, the SpaceXray team intends to keep developing smaller, more portable X-ray devices, as well as expanding training protocols for astronauts who would need to understand how to execute and interpret in-flight scans.
“Building smarter technologies, developing more flexible uses for X-rays and more utility for the technology, whether it’s scanning humans or space equipment: That’s what we will focus on in the coming years,” Gifford said.
Future research will also focus on carefully measuring bone density in astronauts, as well as adding tech that lets X-ray imagers perform full spectrographic analyses of equipment and samples.
Read More: X-Rays Reveal Surprise Van Gogh Self-Portrait
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from SpaceXray: FRAM2 Mission
- This article references information from SpaceX: FRAM2 Mission
- This article references information from NASA: Risk of Spaceflight-Induced Bone Changes
- This article references information from a study published in Radiology: SpaceXray: Feasibility and Diagnostic Capabilities of On-Orbit Medical Radiography
- This article references information from a study published in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance: X-Ray Imaging in the Simulated Microgravity Environment of Parabolic Flight
- This article references information from MinXray: The First X-ray in Space is Here
