17 years old and already a (simulated) moonwalker! 🌕 Aditya Pandya has made history as India’s youngest male Analog Astronaut after an 8-day mission in Dholavira, Gujarat. 🚀
#SpaceIndia #AdityaPandya #AnalogAstronaut #GenZInnovation #VidyaKasam

Maybe the most unique experience I've had in my life was the privilege of participating in a Mars analog mission in the Canadian Arctic in 2017 where I served as the Crew Geologist for the Mars 160 Mission.

Space exploration has been a life-long interest and while my career is now focused on protecting Earth, analog missions have always intrigued me for the dual role they can serve in preparing for deep space exploration while garnering new insight about our own planet. Along that vein, I was able to blend my participation in the mission simulation to the early days of my PhD research, which was focused on studying changes in permafrost on Earth in comparison to ground ice on Mars.

The analog site is located on the rim of the Haughton Impact Crater on Devon Island (Tallurutit). Devon Island has the distinction of being the largest permanently uninhabited island in the world, a testament to harsh elements of the region. By my estimation, there was one point during our mission where we were the only known people on the island, which would have placed us nearly 200 miles in either direction from the closest settlements - almost as isolated as the astronauts on the International Space Station. An experience I won't soon forget.

#Space #Geology #AnalogAstronaut #Mars #Canada #Arctic #Landscape #LandscapePhotography

During my Analog Astronaut mission in Poland I did sone experiments on seeds.
My crew and I used a spinning machine to simulate the lunar gravity to study the growth of the sprouts in that condition!

#space #nasa #aerospace #astronaut #astronauta #rocket #rocketscience #spacetravel #spaceflight #spacewalk #analogastronaut #analogmission

What is an Analog Astronaut mission? 👩🏻‍🚀

#space #nasa #aerospace #astronaut #astronauta #rocket #rocketscience #spacetravel #spaceflight #spacewalk #analogastronaut #analogmission