Michaela Musilová (born 11 October 1988) is a Slovak astrobiologist. She is currently the

HI-SEAS The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) is an analog habitat for human spaceflight to Mars currently operated by the International MoonBase Alliance. HI-SEAS is located in an isolated position on the slopes of the Mauna L ...

director. She has commanded over 30 simulated missions to the Moon and Mars.

Biography

Musilová was born on 11 October 1988 in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. Her father is a diplomat and her mother is an archeologist. She has a PhD degree from the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

specialising in extremophiles with applications to astrobiology, environmental science and glaciology. She graduated from the

International Space University The International Space University (ISU) is a higher education institute headquartered in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, a suburb of Strasbourg, France. It is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications f ...

's (ISU) Space Studies Program in 2015, studied at the University College London, where she received a master's degree in planetary sciences in 2011, studied at California Institute of Technology as an exchange student in 2009, and graduated from the French Lycée Chateaubriand in Rome, Italy in 2007. Her research as an astrobiologist has been wide-ranging, including stints at the

University of London Observatory UCL Observatory (called the University of London Observatory until 2015) at Mill Hill in London is an astronomical teaching observatory. It is part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London. History The Observator ...

, the UK Space Agency for the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

MoonLite project, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA, the

Mars Desert Research Station The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is the largest and longest-running Mars surface research facility and is one of two simulated Mars analog habitats owned and operated by the Mars Society. The MDRS station was built in the early 2000s ne ...

, and the Institute for Food Research in Slovakia. She also is a 26 time published author. Musilová has received multiple prizes and grants, including the Emerging Space Leaders Grant from the

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

(2016) and the Women in Aerospace – Europe Young Professional Award (2016), and she was selected as one of the most promising 30 under 30 by Forbes Slovakia (2015).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musilova, Michaela Living people 1988 births Scientists from Bratislava Astrobiologists Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of University College London International Space University alumni 21st-century Slovak scientists