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Dr. Michaela Musilova

@astro_michaela

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👽 Astrobiologist & Explorer
👩🏼‍🚀 40x Analog Astronaut Commander
✍🏼 Author #WomanFromMars
🎤 Professional Speaker
👩🏼‍🔬 President of XtremeFrontiers 🗻

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Welcome to all my new followers and friends! 😊As a quick introduction for those of you that may not know me well:

- I'm Dr. Michaela Musilova, from Slovakia 🇸🇰

- as an astrobiologist 👽, I've been searching for alien life and studying extreme life on every continent

- I studied and did research at University College London, CalTech, in Japan and other universities thanks to various scholarships 👩🏼‍🔬

- I first worked at @nasa NASA when I was 21, and I have since been working with NASA, @europeanspaceagency and other space 🌌 organizations on numerous projects around the world

- I was the Director of the HI-SEAS research station in Hawaii, and I was the Commander of over 30 simulated missions to the Moon and Mars 👩🏼‍🚀

- I'm currently the President of XtremeFrontiers running the global Astro Seven Summits project 🗻

- I regularly engage in numerous educational and outreach projects 🎤, for instance helping create the first simulated space station in Slovakia, Cosmic Region

- I co-wrote a book about my life ✍🏼, Woman from Mars (Žena z Marsu)

#dreambig #NASA #astronaut #space #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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6 months ago

I'm very honored that l was selected again for the Top 100 Aerospace & Aviation list 😊. Many thanks to everyone who nominated me and who has been supporting my work!

I'm grateful to be on this list of the Top 100 Women in Aerospace & Aviation with so many amazing colleagues and trailblazers, with whom we have been trying to make the space sector more inclusive and fair. I'm also happy that almost everyone I nominated for this list is here with me too. Only when we help and support each other can we make lasting changes in this industry 😊.

Thank you very much Matthew Higa @pineappleempire.og @top100aerospace and your team for creating this recognition and bringing so much of the aerospace & aviation community together 😊.

➡️ Please check out the full list of the honorees here (the link is in my bio too):
https://top100aero.space/Top100Women2025

#Top100 #Top100Women #WomenInAerospace #AWomanFromMars #GlobalLeadership by @astro_michaela

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10 months ago

I'm very excited to share with you: "The Boss Aconcagua"! This is a teaser trailer for the second documentary I've directed and produced 😊.

I hope to see you at the movie premiere on Feb 19th at 18:00 in the @Eurovea food hall, in Bratislava 😊.

You're all very welcome to the free event. I'll also have my Astro Seven Summits patches and books about my life, A Woman from Mars, there too 😊.

You can find more information here (the link is in my bio too):
➡️ https://eurovea.sk/podujatia/zena-z-marsu-drmusilova-v-eurovea

@hotovocompany

#trailer #filmpremiere #documentary #moviepremiere #ZenaZMarsu #AWomanFromMars #MichaelaMusilova #astrobiologist #explorer #aliens #NASA #AstroSevenSummits #AstroKorunaZeme #Eurovea #premiera #TheBossAconcagua by @astro_michaela

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2 years ago

What are some of the challenges I have faced as a woman in science? Unfortunately, being denied opportunities is only scratching the surface of some of the obstacles I've had to overcome.

Fortunately, we have been able to create better and more fair opportunities for future generations, working together with other women and allies 😊.

We talked about this topic and many more with Pierre Klimeczek @pierre_masterchef on OJEDLE @ojedle 😊.

➡️ You can find the link to the interview in my comments below (the link is in my bio too).

#space #spacescientist #childhooddream #astronomy #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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11 hours ago

A big part of my outreach work is engaging with communities around the world and including them in my educational activities. That's one of the reasons why I interview people both about the nature and culture for each one of my documentaries. I'm hoping to connect people worldwide and help us learn from each other 😊.

Here are some pictures from our documentary filming in Alaska this year. We're hoping to release the documentary through my non-profits in Slovakia and in the USA next year if all goes well 😊.

➡️ If you would like to support my scientific and educational activities, please consider donating to my birthday fundraiser here.

I need to fundraise for every single one of my non-profits' projects. I will be most grateful for all your help 😊.

➡️ You can also donate through the link in my comments below (it's in my bio, too).

Thank you very much! ❤️

@canonczsk

#space #birthdayfundraiser #astronomy #Alaska #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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a day ago

The things we do for science and education... 😅. This year's expeditions in Alaska really pushed us to our limits - not just our bodies, but also our gear.

I was fortunately ok working at approximately -40°F/-40°C (not my first time 😀), but my cameras, phones and even tripods really struggled. One of the tripods broke and my gloves also got shredded. Let's just say it took a few weeks for the skin on my hands to recover from that 😅.

Many thanks to Canon CZ&SK @canonczsk for supporting my work with a great camera that actually worked well in these crazy temperatures, and to Motorola @motorolaczsk for providing me with a phone that was able to take these pictures here even when most of the other technologies' batteries got drained by the cold.

#aurora #northernlights #astronomy #Alaska #AWomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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2 days ago

To study life in extreme environments (extremophiles), I've done research on all seven continents. I'm trying to understand how these creatures survive in the most unlikely places for life on Earth. That in turn can help us find life outside of our planet (extraterrestrials).

However, to study extremophiles, one must become an extremophile 😉. That's something that my friends have always teased me about, since my favorite places for exploration always seem to be the most difficult ones to survive in 😅.

Here is just a small peek at doing work in Alaska in the winter this year. As you can see, it was quite cold, particularly as we were hit with several big snow storms during our work there. I'll share some more pictures from this extreme experience over the next few days 😀.

#space #astrobiology #astronomy #Alaska #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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3 days ago

How did I get into NASA @nasa when I was 21 years old? It first took a lot of hard work to get into Caltech @caltech on scholarships and savings from multiple jobs I had during high school and university years. Then, I had to convince scientists at NASA that I was worth giving a shot 😊.

We talked about this topic and many more with Pierre Klimeczek @pierre_masterchef on OJEDLE @ojedle 😊.

➡️ You can find the link to the interview in my comments below (the link is in my bio too).

#space #spacescientist #childhooddream #astronomy #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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4 days ago

Being a leader during simulated space missions is a combination of working in a professional and a personal environment. On one hand, our goal as a crew is to successfully complete the research and other important tasks of our mission. On the other hand, we are a group of people living together in extreme conditions, which affects both our physical and mental health.

There isn't one way to be a leader during space missions. What I have found that worked best for me was to use empathy and open communication to understand the crew better, and thus lead them knowing their strengths and needs.

Likewise, I was open with them about my decision-making process and how I felt. This transparent way of working together is what I believe helped us in many situations and thanks to it we bonded better during the 40 simulated space missions that I've commanded.

I talked about these topics and many others during my discussion on stage with Emma Smetana @emmasmetana_music for the recent Check Point Advantage 2026 cybersecurity conference. Thank you for the invitation, organization and photos @slove_marketing! And thank you to Cameron Crowell @cameron.a.crowell for some of the photos too. 😊

#spacemission #spacescientist #leadership #astronomy #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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5 days ago

Whenever I used to travel to new places because of work, I always tried to find time to learn about the local culture and history at least a little bit before and after my work commitments. However, this year has been so full of research and educational activities that I've barely had time to get to know each place I've travelled to.

While I was in Turkey just now, I mostly saw the inside of the convention center where I presented during the International Astronautical Congress 😅. Fortunately, I'm very grateful that I was able to find at least a tiny bit of time on top of my work to get to know some of the beautiful historic sites and towns in the area, shown in the pictures here (the ancient cities of Perge, Side and Aspendos) 😊.

#Antalya #Perge #Aspendos #Turkey #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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6 days ago

Many thanks for all the kind birthday wishes and messages! I appreciate you all 😊. I was able to celebrate a little in Turkey after the conference 😊.

A huge thank you as well to everyone who has contributed to my birthday fundraiser for my research and educational work! Your support means the world to me ❤️.

➡️ If you would like to support me too, this fundraiser here will be active for several more days or you can use the link in my comments below (it's in my bio, too).

Thank you very much for your help! ❤️

#space #spacescientist #birthday #astronomy #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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8 days ago

For my birthday tomorrow, I have created a fundraiser for my scientific and educational activities that I have planned over the next year. I perform them through my non-profits in Slovakia and the USA, and I need to fundraise for every single one of them.

If possible, I would be extremely grateful for any support 😊.

➡️ You can donate through the fundraiser here or the link in my comments below (it's in my bio, too).

Thank you very much! ❤️

#space #spacescientist #birthday #astronomy #WomanFromMars by @astro_michaela

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8 days ago