Researchers from the University of Plymouth are taking part in a major international project using cave systems in the Azores to explore the impact of space missions on the human body.
The Caving Analog Mission: Ocean, Earth, Space (CAMões) project is bringing together a team of experts to develop and implement research programmes that will be critical for improving conditions on future space flights.
For a week in November 2023, seven members of the team are living and working inside a cave on Terceira Island, a lava tube cave which they believe will enable them to recreate conditions to be found on the Moon.
While there, they are carrying out tests in fields including bioastronautics, space medicine, geosciences, robotics, suborbital spaceflight, human health, and atmospheric science.
During the week, the team is also hosting webinars with several schools giving students aged three to 17 the chance to contribute to the initiative, with the ultimate goal being to bring younger people closer to the scientific domains.
The project has been developed by the Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) in Portugal.
Among its leaders is Yvette Gonzalez, who has recently taken up the role of Visiting Researcher with the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research (PIHR).
She is a space industry strategist, humanitarian, and climate researcher with over two decades of emergency experience rebuilding communities in active war, conflict, disasters, and epidemiological outbreaks.
She now bridges space technologies to help solve Earth challenges, and consults with emerging space nations on space, science, and technology ecosystem roadmaps.
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