Dr. Michaela Musilova

2/ If you would like to watch the full interview (in Slovak), you can find it here:
➡️ bit.ly/Michaela_RVTV

What is the new station in Slovakia for simulated space missions going to look like? When will it open? These are some of the topics we addressed in a recent interview for Rožnavská televízia - RVTV. Many thanks for this news report and for the video 😊. 1/

4/The island's location in the North Atlantic leads to regular precipitation year-round, fueling the waterfalls. The other source of water for the Icelandic waterfalls is ice melt from glaciers, which cover over 10% of the country. Sadly, these glaciers have been retreating over the past 100 years.

3/ Simultaneously, a hotspot, known as the Iceland plume, is located beneath the island, causing significant volcanic activity and further elevating the crust. The resulting tall mountains and numerous cliffs provide places for waterfalls to form.

2/ Iceland was formed by the unique interaction of a mid-ocean ridge and a mantle plume. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are separating, runs through Iceland.

The unbelievable amount and diversity of waterfalls in Iceland is mostly due to the island's geology and geography. 1/

2/ This lava field, called Hallmundarhraun, originally flowed from an eruption of one of the volcanoes lying under the nearby glacier Langjökull, the second largest ice-cap in Iceland.

You can see a video of the waterfalls' full extent in my previous post 😊.

When you hear 'Lava Falls', you may picture a river of lava flowing over a cliff. The Icelandic 'Lava Falls', Hraunfossar, are actually a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets of cold subterranean water seeping through lava. 1/

This is just a taste of some of the thousands of beautiful waterfalls in Iceland 😊.

Many of them are present year-round thanks to the climate in the North Atlantic. It brings consistent rainfall and snowfall, providing a constant water source for the waterfalls.

2/In Icelandic, Brúarfoss means "Bridge Falls", because a natural stone bridge once spanned the river. The river has such a vivid turquoise color from glacial meltwater originating from the nearby Langjokull Glacier. Fine glacial silt in the water refracts sunlight creating the striking blue effect.

Brúarfoss was hands down one of the most beautiful waterfalls I saw in Iceland. Its incredible blue color and great surrounding scenery made me just want to stand there and stare at it for hours 😍. 1/

2/ If you would like to participate in the Junior Astrobiologist project, please check it out here:
➡️
www.anecdata.org/projects/vie...

As promised, here are my answers to the questions from the Space Club 😊. | Michaela Musilova, PhD. As promised, here are my answers to the questions from the Space Club 😊. I posted about their projects and engagement in my Junior Astrobiologist citizen science project yesterday. If you would like...

As promised, here are my answers to the questions from the Space Club 😊.

I posted about their projects and engagement in my Junior Astrobiologist citizen science project yesterday. 1/

www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-mic...

If you would like to participate in the Junior Astrobiologist project, please check it out here:
➡️
www.anecdata.org/projects/vie...

2/ If you would like to participate in the Junior Astrobiologist project, please check it out here:
➡️
www.anecdata.org/projects/vie...

7/If you would like to participate in the Junior Astrobiologist citizen science project, please check it out here:
➡️
www.anecdata.org/projects/vie...

6/ PS: The Junior Astrobiologist citizen science project is still a work in progress, but I'm happy that even this "rough draft" version of it was useful to the Space Club 😊.

5/ Many thanks to Nina Danon for all your help with this and to Jonathan Nalder for helping me set up the Junior Astrobiologist project! ❤️

@jnxyz.bsky.social

4/ Tomorrow, I'll share my answers to their questions if you're interested in finding out more 😊.

3/It makes me feel like my work has a greater meaning when I can help teach and inspire young people to be not only interested in STEM subjects, but also to engage in them through a variety of activities 😊.

2/ I'm so glad that the Space Club Kids have taken part in my Junior Astrobiologist citizen science project and that they have learned new things from following some of my activities.

What a lovely surprise! I was very touched to receive these wonderful projects and great questions from the Space Club ❤️.
1/

6/ Here are several pictures from our work in not always the best conditions 😅. Some of the pictures are courtesy of Dina Bower and Yesenia Arroyo 😊.

5/ Many thanks to everyone in the team for a great experience! I also enjoyed our pretty cool team name, ATOMIC - Analog Terrain Observations for Mars In situ Characterization 😀.

4/ This research can also help us assess whether regions like that on Mars could potentially be or have been habitable - so accommodating for life to possibly survive there.

3/ We are trying to understand these interesting data from Mars by comparing them to analog environments on Earth, such as various geothermal vents.

2/In particular, we were studying mineral deposits that had similar geochemical properties to some regions on Mars. These include the Gusev, Gale and Jezero Craters, which have been studied by different rovers on the Red Planet.

Searching for Mars-like environments - that was part of what our research with NASA in Iceland was focused on.
1/

6/ At this site I explored in Iceland, Blábjörg (Blue Cliffs), the ignimbrite formed during a large volcanic eruption around nine million years ago. Its blue-green color is due to the presence of chlorite minerals, which formed during the weathering of the ignimbrites.

5/ They are typically composed of a mixture of pumice fragments, rock fragments, crystals and volcanic ash. They compact under their own weight. If they are still hot enough when they are emplaced, the ash particles fuse or weld together.