Biological & Physical Sciences

5 missions in this study. 15 tracked publications and 236 citations over their lifetimes.

Studying living systems and physical processes in the space environment.


Research over time

Tracked publications Citations

Dashed: 2026 is not yet a full year.

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window
Missions5
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods7
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods56
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods8
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods7
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods0 (0%)
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods5
Citations held by the top 10% of papersThe share of all citations in the selected scope that went to the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions. The higher it is, the more attention concentrates on a few papers. Methods—
Percentile citation cutoffs · Active Mission Window
Top 0.1%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods16 · 1 paper at or above
Top 1%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods16 · 1 paper at or above
Top 5%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods16 · 1 paper at or above
Top 10%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods16 · 1 paper at or above
Top 25%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods14 · 2 papers at or above
Top 50%Cutoff: the fewest citations a paper needs to rank in the top share named, among every paper from this division’s missions in the selected scope, ties included. The count beside it is the papers at or above that line. Not adjusted for publication year. Methods7 · 5 papers at or above

Publications per missionTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods

Tracked publications per mission in the selected scope.

Explore missions

Lifetime totals.
ImageCost: life-cycle cost including partner contributions, in 2025 dollars (NASA’s New Start Index). MethodsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methodsh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. MethodsTracked publications per yearStrip: tracked publications per year since the start of science operations. Methods
GeneSat 2006Orbiter$6.0M000
PharmaSat 2009Orbiter$6.8M000
O/OREOS 2010Orbiter$8.1M111968
SporeSat 2014Orbiter$15M000
EcAMSat 2017Orbiter$2.0M4402