MarsCrew134 - MICHAELA MUSILOVA, Crew Scientist on Extremophiles

Michaela Musilova is a Crew Scientist for the MarsCrew134, a team of highly trained scientist, researchers and filmmaker who will embark on a Mars simulation at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA.

Her primary interest is in extremophiles, organisms that live in extreme environments. Similar life could potentially be found on other planetary bodies, such as Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Thus, they are very important for astrobiology - the study of life in the Universe. Michaela first came across extremophiles at University College London (UCL), where shencompleted an MSci Planetary Science degree with First Class Honours.

Fueled by her interest for these extraordinary creatures, she wrote a proposal for her master’s project on this subject and received several scholarships from the university to complete it. Michaela was also able to study a wide variety of extreme organisms while studying at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on a scholarship, as a competitively selected exchange student.

Pursuing the engaging topic of extremophiles and its implications for life on Mars, she applied for and was awarded the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Furthermore, to better understand the habitats of extremophiles, she prepared a project aiming to simulate lunar and planetary surfaces. Michaela received a Nuffield Foundation grant for this study and it was made part of a joint NASA/ESA MoonLite project collaboration.

Michaela is currently working as a PhD research student at the University of Bristol.