Objectif Mars

I am delighted to share that I have just completed a nine-month internship on radiation microbiology within HRE-HS at the European Space Agency - ESA! ☢️🦠

📋 The review produced is organised into three sections covering (i) the direct, indirect, and non-direct of radiation on microorganisms; (ii) the main associated mechanisms in model bacteria and fungi; and (iii) the potential of the identified resistance mechanisms in enhancing human space exploration through preventive (before), reactive (during) and prospective (after exposure) radiomitigation strategies.

💻 In addition, together with the askESA team, we used this review and some of the 400+ papers manually identified as a pilot dataset to evaluate the performance of a Mistral AI agent designed to sort scientific papers and assign relevance scores to help in identifying relevant papers in large databases.

🙏🏻 I wish to sincerely thank the entirety of the Human and Robotics Exploration - Human Science (HRE-HS) team at ESTEC for their warm welcome and their guidance. It was an honour to learn from the team and to work alongside you, I look forward to our next endeavour! As part of my involvement within Young ESA, I also had the chance to meet many inspiring people that I cannot all mention here but who will undoubtedly recognise themselves. I especially wish to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the interns, trainees, research fellows, contractors and staff members for their friendship and their infinite energy, I already miss each and every single one of you and I cannot wait for our paths to cross again!

Ad Astra! ✨🚀

Hear, hear, for we are ’s young generation,
Flying three, four, five... is our mission,
On six, seven, eight... beyond ignition,
This is our Christmas list and Cosmic Vision.

To boldly go where no human has gone before;
For to seek new life and bravely soar,
For and to waltz in the night,
And for to rise and shine, lit by .

To ardently define the future of humankind;
, a Guide to never fall behind,
, a Sentinel that is never blind,
And , a Warden from space rocks unkind.

To safely guard our dear and beautiful blue dot;
But also every dream and future astronaut,
For the fifty years that defined us, and those yet to be,
ESA carries all our wills in unity! 🚀✨
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From our segment on stage at the 50 Years of ESA Celebration and Christmas Party. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the 2.000 attendees, to the entire ESA workforce, to my dear friends at ESA, and to the missions that unite us with unparalleled excitement for our future!

Buch Kornreich | Eberhardt | Fredagsvik | Bieler | Moorkens O'Reilly | Leske | Appelt

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting my research four times: three at the MELiSSA conference, and once during the ESTEC Open Days with Young ESA! ✨🚀

✨ There is something profoundly moving about sharing a project as personal as a thesis, an analog hashtag , an internship, or any endeavour that has demanded deep personal investment, and witnessing how the countless hours poured into it can put stars in the eyes of the attendance. Thank you for taking the time to listen!

🙏🏻 This work has never been a one-person journey. I stand on the shoulders of giants who came before me and generously offered their time and knowledge, allowing me to live my passion. For this, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family, my partner, my friends, and all my mentors at UMONS (Ruddy Wattiez, Baptiste Leroy, Guillaume Bayon-Vicente, Proteomic and Microbiology Department - UMONS), at the MELiSSA Pilot Plant (Francesc Godia Casablancas, Marcel Vilaplana Artigas, MELiSSA Foundation), at The Mars Society, the Analog Astronaut Training Center, and Mars Society Belgium, at SHERPA ENGINEERING (Philippe Fiani, Olivier Gerbi), at KU Leuven (Sarah Baatout, Clio Gielen), at the ZARM (Cyprien Verseux, Michael Maas, Sahil Bhatia, Lucie Thibaud), and at ESA-ESTEC (Angelique Van Ombergen, Melike Balk, Piers Jiggens, Christiane Hahn), ESA Academy (Natacha Callens, Laetitia Delhaze), as well as to all the others who will undoubtedly recognise themselves in my gratitude.

Ad Astra! 🚀✨

📸 Evandros Theodosiou, Cécile Renaud, Siiri Koskinen

I am thrilled to share I started an internship on Radiation Microbiology within the HRE-HS team at for the European Space Agency - ESA! 🚀✨

🗒️ Over the next six to nine months, I will build a roadmap detailing how radioresistant microorganisms (e.g., spore-forming bacteria, melanin-producing fungi, etc.) could support long-term human space exploration.

🙏 I will be working under the guidance of Dr. Melike Balk and Dr. Piers Jiggens, and to learn from the many experts of the Human and Robotic Exploration - Human Science (HRE-HS) directorate. I thank them wholeheartedly for their warm welcome, and I am looking forward to contributing meaningfully to their exciting activities!

🎓 This internship is performed under the framework of the Master of Space Studies at KU Leuven, Belgium, under support from the ESA Academy Scholarship Programme. Many thanks to them for making this opportunity possible!

Ad Astra! 🌌🔭

Last November, Master thesis project concluded its expedition at the Mars Desert Research Station (The Mars Society, Utah, 🇺🇸) as part of ! 🚀🔴

⬅️ Previously, 𝑅𝑠. 𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑚 was studied in photo𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼trophic conditions at AATC's lunar habitat (Analog Astronaut Training Center, Krakow, 🇵🇱).

⬇️ At MDRS, the photo𝗵𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼trophic growth of 𝑅ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑇𝐼𝐸-1 was investigated within low-cost bag photobioreactors filled with hydrogen gas produced through electrolysis. The bioreactors returned to the Proteomic and Microbiology Department (ProtMic) at UMONS in perfect condition once again, reaffirming the reliability of our low-cost setup in remote settings! 🦠🟣

➡️ With this second metabolism tested, we are making progress towards understanding how the metabolic versatility of purple non-sulphur bacteria could contribute to designing novel Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) systems, while repurposing byproducts of waste recycling bioprocesses and generating protein-rich biomass for feed/food on Earth and in Space. 🌱🌍

🏅 I am also deeply honored and proud to have been bestowed with the title of Honorary Member of the Mars Society Belgium for representing it throughout 2023! I will make sure to carry their legacy for many years to come.

For future events: https://www.facebook.com/MarsSocietyBelgium

See full post (with acknowledgements): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/guillaume-gego_co2prot-mdrs-mdrscrew286-activity-7178446433224638464--7Cm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Merci la MSB! 🔥🚀✨✨✨

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[GUILLAUME GEGO EN 10 IMAGES] Voici la 8ème image des anecdotes de la mission martienne de notre membre Guillaume Gégo qui nous présente un autre de ses coéquipier🤩👇

💫Notre propre petit cameraman importé directement de Marseille, Hugo, avait pour but de documenter les histoires de personnes qui sortent des sentiers battus pour faire avancer la recherche spatiale, un peu comme son grand-père, Claude Chipaux, qui fut un des pionniers du projet MELiSSA de l'ESA.
C'est d'ailleurs au MELiSSA Pilot Plant de Barcelone, là où je faisais mon stage, que je l'ai rencontré et recruté pour cette mission! Animé d'une passion et d'un oeil pour le cinéma, ce petit réalisateur ira aussi loin que sa caméra le lui permet (Son site: https://hugosaugier.fr/ )!

Que de belles rencontres il a pu faire là-bas! 😍
N'hésitez pas à lui poser des questions en commentaires! 🤗

Little comment on this one: this is a NY Times article in which our mission (crew 286) was portrayed! Feel free to read it and ask questions below ❤️✨🚀

Opinion | The Beautiful Desolation of Life on Mars — On Earth To live on the red planet, humans will need to bring along small reminders of home.

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[GUILLAUME GEGO EN 10 IMAGES] Voici la 5ème image des anecdotes de la mission martienne de Guillaume Gégo 🤩👇Un peu plus courte cette fois-ci!

💫Voici une vue d'extérieur de la Mars Desert Research Station! Crew 286 a commencé sa rotation le Dimanche 12 Novembre et l'a terminée le vendredi 22.

N'hésitez pas à lui poser des questions en commentaires! 🤗

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