“By the end of the next decade there will be a manned research mission to Mars” emphasized Mr. Stamatis Krimizis, the internationally renowned pioneer researcher with extensive participation in NASA’s most important space programs, during his speech at the event of the Foundation of Hellenic Parliament “Stars in the Park” on the theme of life in the Universe which started today in the National Reconciliation Park in Grammos.

Mr. Krimizis referred in detail to the conditions prevailing on the red planet and how inhospitable it is to human life. In addition to manned research missions, he expressed pessimism about permanent colonization due to the solar radiation that literally bombards the planet. Another element that complicates his colonization scenarios as he mentioned is “the distance that spacecraft have to travel since they have to travel for 220 days to reach Mars”.

For his part, Greveniotis Thanasis Oikonomou, a space scientist professor at the University of Chicago and for a number of years a collaborator at NASA, also referring to the issue of the colonization of Mars and the Moon, expressed doubts saying that the prevailing conditions are quite difficult and apart from the creating infrastructure for research purposes will require huge financial capital to support permanent settlement options.

Mr. Economou noted that “the moon has sparked the space interest of many countries” that are initially testing unmanned flights to explore the moon.

“Apart from China that landed a spacecraft on the dark side of the moon, India, Japan and the Emirates are the countries planning missions in the immediate future.”

He explained that “on the part of NASA, the Artemis 2 mission with four astronauts is planned for 2024 where their spacecraft will perform low-orbit rotations around the Moon.”

And also the “Artemis 3” mission that will take place two years later which “will repeat the Apollo project where the main craft will be in continuous orbit and the astronauts will move on the surface of the moon”. Mr. Economou explained “there will be several such flights to the Moon in an effort to create stable bases for the mission to the planet Mars”.

One element of interest about the moon is the existence of valuable and rare minerals that could be extracted for use on Earth.

The scientific event was also attended by Andrianos Golemis, a doctor at the European Space Agency (ESA) and a candidate astronaut, who referred to the thorough checks carried out by the medical staff of the space service until the astronauts enter the vessel, then their monitoring during their stay on the space station and preparing for their return to earth.

For his part, the president of the Hellenic Space Center, Professor Ioannis Daglis, spoke about the foundations of life and how light, magnetism and water are the basic ingredients for the existence of life in the universe.

On behalf of the Foundation of the Hellenic Parliament for Parliamentaryism and Democracy, which is responsible for the operation of the National Reconciliation Park, the Secretary General of the foundation, Professor Evanthis Chatzivasileiou, delivered a brief greeting. The work of the two-day scientific meeting will be completed on Saturday afternoon, while a starry night will follow in collaboration with the active Astronomical Association of Western Macedonia.