Profile

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Michaela Musilova

Curriculum Vitae

  • Education:

    French Lycée Chateaubriand (Rome, Italy); University College London (UCL); California Institute of Technology (Caltech); University of Bristol; International Space University (ISU)

  • Qualifications:

    BSc, MSci Planetary Sciences with First Class Honours (Distinction: Dean’s List); PhD in extremophiles with applications to astrobiology, environmental science and glaciology; Alumni of International Space University a.k.a. the “Space Mafia”

  • Work History:

    Martian analogue astronaut at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS); NASA research fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Royal Society International Exchange researcher in Japan; seismology and earthquake hazard researcher for UCL, the University of Cambridge, University of Bristol and GEO Grid Research Group, Japan; UK Penetrator Consortium research assistant at UCL, funded by a Nuffield Foundation grant; researcher searching for extra-solar planets at the University of London Observatory (ULO)

  • Current Job:

    I’m the senior advisor for space related research and technology, the international relations liaison and outreach officer

  • Employer:

    Mission Control Space Services Inc. & Slovak Organisation for Space Activities

  • My work

    I’m an astrobiologist, extremophile scientist and Martian analogue astronaut

  • Read more

    My main interest in extremophiles – organisms that live in extreme environments – such as deserts, deep sea vents and glaciers. Similar life could be found on other planetary bodies, such as Mars, which is why extremophiles are very important for the search for extraterrestrial life – astrobiology.

  • My Typical Day

    My “office” can range from being on the surface of a glacier, in a biochemistry laboratory at NASA to being on “Mars” :)

  • Read more

    To collect extremophiles I take part in a lot of varied fieldwork around the world 

    Afterwards, the extreme organisms need to be studied and analysed in laboratories 

    I was also very fortunate to have been selected as a “marsonaut” to take part in a simulated Martian mission  where I got to perform my research as if I was on the surface of Mars.

  • My Interview

    • What was your favourite subject at school?

      history of art and geology

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      I always dreamt of becoming an astronaut and I’m still working hard towards that dream! :)

      What is the most fun thing you've done?

      I live my life like it’s an adventure, so I’m not sure what the most fun thing that I’ve done is, as I’ve been fortunate enough to do a lot of fun/crazy things! Skydiving is probably one of my favourite fun activities :)

  • Work photos:

       

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