A new English-language journal titled REACH – Reviews in Human Space Exploration was launched at the end of last month with Rupert Gerzer, a professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, as its editor-in-chief.
Professor Rupert Gerzer, right, pictured at Skoltech with German astronaut Dr. Reinhold Ewald. Photo: Skoltech.
The quarterly journal will be devoted to all aspects of human space exploration, from life sciences research in space to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the latest developments and challenges in space travel. The first issue, which includes an article written by Skoltech students on the post-ISS era, is now available online free of charge.
“Human spaceflight has a great history and an even brighter future. It is surprising that, until now, no review journal existed that focused entirely on this topic,” Gerzer said in a press release issued by Elsevier, the journal’s publisher.
The cover of the brand new space journal. Photo: Elsevier.
“REACH is an ambitious title, a title that should remind us to extend the possibilities of human activity, ‘to reach for the stars,’ especially in this highly symbolic realm, to focus on the exciting challenges to come, and to always go forward. I hope REACH will contribute to this positive, ambitious spirit and will help us to tackle the challenges we will face in the future,” said the German professor, who before joining Skoltech’s Space Center headed the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
“We are delighted to launch this journal in collaboration with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF),” said Helen Habernickel, executive publisher at Elsevier, which publishes a range of science and medical journals, including The Lancet and Cell, as well as a broad range of digital content and books.
“The field of space exploration relies on a tight network of international collaboration. We strongly believe that REACH will support the continuous exchange of research findings between nations and space agencies,” Habernickel said via the press release.
“It is exciting to see how nations are continuing to make intensive use of the International Space Station and how their findings are the driver of innovation and lead to the development of applications for use on Earth,” she added.
Professor Gerzer will head a team of editors from established aerospace nations, including Jeffrey Davis of NASA, Peter Gräf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Yinghui Li of the Chinese Astronaut Centre and Oleg Orlov of Russia’s Institute for Biomedical Problems.