A simple urine test could soon reveal more about a person’s bones than X-rays, US researchers said Tuesday after publishing results of an early phase study funded by NASA.

The technique could help astronauts cope with the bone loss that can occur in weightless environments like space, but may also have broad implications for people who suffer from osteoporosis or cancers that may spread to the bones.

“Right now there aren’t very good ways to detect bone loss before there has already been a fair amount of bone loss,” said senior author Ariel Anbar, a professor at Arizona State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.