Editorial for a New Section: Mineralogy Beyond Earth

Mineralogy has traditionally developed within the context of Earth, the most accessible planetary body and our primary natural laboratory. Over generations, the structures, chemistries, and physical properties of minerals were interpreted largely through the lens of terrestrial processes. Yet, in recent decades, a profound expansion in our scientific capabilities—planetary missions, sample-return programs, remote sensing, high-pressure experimentation, and astrochemical modeling—has revealed a mineralogical diversity across the Solar System that extends far beyond anything recorded on Earth’s surface. This growing realization provides both an opportunity and a responsibility: to understand the mineralogical evolution of other worlds with the same depth and rigor long applied to our own. It is in this context that we introduce Mineralogy Beyond Earth, a new section of Minerals dedicated to research that advances our knowledge of minerals, their origins, and their significance in environments throughout the Solar System and beyond.

One of the most compelling motivations for this new direction is the unique ability of extraterrestrial materials to preserve a record of processes that Earth has erased. Our planet is geologically active—its crust is recycled through plate tectonics, altered by fluids, reshaped by erosion, and influenced by biology. These dynamic processes have obliterated most signatures of Earth’s earliest history. In contrast, meteorites, asteroidal fragments, lunar samples, and the surface materials of inactive or slowly evolving bodies act as remarkably pristine archives. Their mineral structures, isotopic signatures, inclusion assemblages, and shock features preserve information about the formation of the first solids from the solar nebula, early high-temperature condensation, the onset of planetary accretion and differentiation, and the collisional history of the inner Solar System. Studying these minerals offers a direct connection to events that cannot be reconstructed from terrestrial rocks alone. In many ways, extraterrestrial mineralogists function as detectives piecing together a story that has survived only beyond Earth.

Apart from this historical dimension, extraterrestrial bodies present mineralogical environments that operate under physical and chemical conditions with no Earth analogs. Low-gravity crystallization, equilibrium in methane- or ammonia-rich atmospheres, cryogenic aqueous alteration, radiation-induced mineral transformations, and gas–solid reactions in the early Solar Nebula all represent processes unfamiliar in terrestrial mineralogy. Understanding these pathways is essential for interpreting observations collected by orbiters, landers, rovers, and telescopes, and for correctly reconstructing the geological histories of remote worlds. Experiments designed to simulate these exotic regimes, along with theoretical and computational models, are increasingly important for placing mission data into its proper mineralogical context. As exploration extends to ever more distant and chemically diverse environments, the need for a dedicated scholarly platform that bridges mineralogy with planetary science becomes even more evident.

A further rationale for this section emerges from the growing relevance of in situ resource utilization (ISRU). As space exploration shifts from brief reconnaissance to sustained human and robotic operations, the ability to extract and use local resources becomes fundamental. Launching materials from Earth is extremely expensive; producing oxygen from lunar regolith, refining metals from asteroids, or mining water ice on small bodies could significantly reduce mission costs and improve long-term sustainability. Mineralogy is the scientific foundation of all ISRU strategies. Without detailed knowledge of mineral distributions, bonding environments, phase stabilities, mechanical behavior, and volatile content, it is impossible to design efficient extraction or processing methods. Research that characterizes extraterrestrial regolith, examines the effects of space weathering, evaluates resource potential, and develops mineral-based utilization pathways will therefore form a critical component of future aerospace engineering. By housing such work, Mineralogy Beyond Earth supports the translation of fundamental mineralogical knowledge into practical solutions essential for long-duration exploration.

Extraterrestrial environments also provide natural laboratories for producing minerals and materials under extreme conditions often inaccessible on Earth’s surface. Shock events, deep planetary interiors, intense irradiation, unusual redox states, and chemically exotic environments give rise to a remarkable diversity of mineralogical species, metastable phases, and unique structural motifs. Many of these minerals exhibit extraordinary physical or chemical properties and can serve as inspiration for designing new synthetic materials. High-pressure phases first predicted or observed in planetary interiors, for instance, have repeatedly informed the development of technologically relevant materials on Earth. By exploring minerals formed across the Solar System’s pressure–temperature–composition space, researchers can uncover bonding schemes, kinetics, and stability relations that extend the boundaries of what mineral chemistry can achieve. Such discoveries serve both fundamental science and broader technological innovation.

Mineralogy also plays an increasingly important role in the search for habitability and life beyond Earth. Minerals help regulate planetary environments, record past aqueous activity, influence redox conditions, and interact with organic molecules. On Earth, specific mineral phases are linked to biological processes, and minerals may have facilitated key steps in prebiotic chemistry. These relationships guide the interpretation of mineralogical data collected from Mars, icy moons, and small bodies. Carbonate deposits, alteration minerals, hydrated silicates, and iron oxides all hold clues about the past presence of water, the stability of environments through time, and the chemical pathways available for biological or prebiotic activity. By examining how minerals encapsulate environmental signals or serve as substrates for organic chemistry, the field advances from the traditional “follow the water” paradigm to a more refined “follow the chemistry and the minerals” approach. This evolution is essential for deciphering the histories of planetary habitability and evaluating potential biosignatures.

The economic and strategic implications of extraterrestrial mineral resources further underscore the need for dedicated scholarly attention. The potential resource value of metal-rich asteroids is staggering, with some estimates reaching into the quadrillions of dollars. Although commercial extraction remains speculative, ongoing advances in spacecraft engineering, automation, and mission architectures make long-term resource utilization plausible. Scientific understanding of mineralogical distributions, geomechanical behavior, regolith cohesion, and volatile reservoirs will be key for assessing the feasibility of future endeavors. Moreover, this growing interest requires careful consideration of sustainability, governance, and ethical frameworks. Mineralogical research contributes essential data to these discussions, shaping how off-Earth resources may eventually be integrated into human economic systems.

Within Minerals, interest in extraterrestrial mineralogy has already been demonstrated by a series of successful Special Issues published between 2021 and 2025. These issues attracted contributions from cosmochemists, planetary geologists, experimental mineral physicists, astrochemists, and mission scientists, clearly indicating a vibrant and expanding interdisciplinary community. The success of these collections revealed the need not for occasional thematic volumes but for a permanent, high-visibility home for such research. The creation of this section consolidates these activities and positions Minerals as a leading venue for studies that extend traditional mineralogy into the broader planetary domain. Notably, no equivalent dedicated section or journal exists within the MDPI portfolio, allowing this initiative to fill an important gap and serve a large and growing community of researchers.

The vision for Mineralogy Beyond Earth is therefore both ambitious and inclusive. The section welcomes contributions spanning the full range of extraterrestrial mineral science, from laboratory simulations and theoretical modeling to mission-driven analyses and sample-based studies. It aims to support research that reconstructs the mineralogical evolution of planetary bodies, interprets remote-sensing data through mineralogical frameworks, identifies indicators of habitability, evaluates resource potential, and uncovers exotic materials formed under extreme planetary conditions. By bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines—mineralogists, cosmochemists, geophysicists, materials scientists, planetary geologists, and astrobiologists—it fosters a community capable of addressing the scientific challenges and opportunities of planetary exploration.

The launch of this section marks an important step in expanding the scientific reach of Minerals and in acknowledging the central role of mineralogy in understanding other worlds. As exploration accelerates and new missions return unprecedented data and samples, mineralogical research will increasingly shape our understanding of planetary histories, guide future exploration strategies, and inspire new directions in materials science. We look forward to supporting these efforts and to building a dynamic, interdisciplinary platform for research that extends far beyond Earth.