Planetary and space science special issue

Today more than ever, space science is a vibrant and exciting field. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover took off and landed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the scientific results of its payload are already paying dividends to the scientific community. Meanwhile on Earth, scientific development, far from having halted, remains as active as ever before, albeit with some hiccups over the last 3 years due to restrictions. Nevertheless, the scientific community, and more specifically, the space science community, has remained steadfast in its pursuit of knowledge. And at the core of this pursuit is the ever-growing field of chemometrics.

All in all, the body of work in this special issue represents a tremendous effort on the part of the authors, and we could not be more pleased. We must admit that the continued submissions and forthcoming work made it hard for us to declare a conclusion to this special issue. Indeed, we could have continued receiving submissions indefinitely. However, all good things must come to an end, if for no other reason than to open the door for future endeavors. Whether that means the continuation of methodological work, the inevitable continuation of instrument development for the search of life or other priorities of the space science communities, or simply reflections on where we are headed, there is much to be done and disseminated. But as long as we continue having fun and pushing the proverbial envelope, special issues such as this one should be executed every few years to ensure that the fields of space science and chemometrics benefit from the synergy of our long-standing interdisciplinarity.

For now, enjoy the ride and shoot for the stars, if only to land on the Moon or Mars!