Astrobiologist Musilova Back from Exploring Mars-like Environments in Iceland

Washington, 9 August (TASR) - Slovak astrobiologist Michaela Musilova has recently returned from a research expedition to Iceland organised by NASA in which she was part of a team of scientists searching for environments that are geologically similar to Mars, TASR was informed by Musilova earlier this week. Her team primarily studied mineral deposits with geochemical properties similar to those found in areas of Mars that have been explored to date (the Gusev, Gale, and Jezero craters). The data from these craters is compared by NASA with similar environments on Earth. In Iceland, they found several geothermal vents that could be helpful in analysing the data received from Mars rovers. The focus of Musilova's research is to determine whether such areas on Mars could once have been habitable for life as we know it. During the NASA expedition to Iceland, she collected research samples for several institutions around the world, including Comenius University in Slovakia. Musilova has been conducting similar research with NASA for over 15 years. In the past three years, she's been collecting geological and biological samples for NASA during expeditions as part of her Astro Koruna Zeme (Astro Seven Summits) research and educational project, aiming to conquer the highest peaks of each continent, which involved international research and students' projects (including those of Slovak students), as well as shooting popular documentaries. She's participated in space-related research at various institutions around the world, including at NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the California Institute of Technology, the University College London, Chiba University in Japan, and many others. Under NASA auspices, she was a crew commander leading more than 30 simulated missions to Mars and the Moon, the highest number to date. For several years, she held the post of director of the HI-SEAS research station in Hawaii and also represented Slovakia by joining the largest expedition of female scientists to Antarctica. jrg/df/am