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COLMENA, a new concept on lunar exploration
18 July 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm UTC
We are stepping at the gates of a new era in space exploration, one which will finally incorporate the inner solar system to society’s daily life and economics. The first step is the Moon, and the asteroids will probably follow. The surface of those bodies presents special challenges for human and technological activities as well as resource exploitation. These challenges, which include regolith, extreme thermal amplitude, high energy radiation and surface mineral mixing among others, open the door to new operational approaches. COLMENA is the pathfinder of one such avenue: using swarms of micro-rovers for scientific exploration, resource prospection or, eventually, mining The first COLMENA mission will deploy 5 microrovers (56 grams each) on the Moon surface by the end of this year, flying on board a private spacecraft. In the talk I will briefly explain the context, technical characteristics and objectives of the mission, as well as its future.
A short bio
Dr. Gustavo MEDINA TANCO is Professor at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of UNAM in Mexico, where he leads the group of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and is the Head of the Laboratory for Space Instrumentation, LINX, which he created in 2009. He has also created, and is responsible for, the National Laboratory for Space Access (LANAE) in state of Hidalgo, Mexico, which will start operation in 2022. He was for 10 years the science coordinator of the International JEM-EUSO Collaboration and member of its executive board and, as such he lead the Mexican participation in the development of several instruments under the coordination of CNES, NASA, ASI and ROSCOSMOS. He implemented a platform for stratospheric ballooning of small science and engineering payloads which operates regularly from Mexico and has also flown in cooperation with CSBF-NASA. He has been the PI and project manager of the NanoConnect-2 satellite and the COLMENA lunar mission. He has been a member of the Commissions of Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities respectively, of the Confederation of Chambers of Industry of Mexico (CONCAMIN). He is an elected member of the IAA, member of the Science Group of the ISECG, of the Innovation and Commercialization WG of Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence, of the SATC of the IAF. He has been professor at the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (IAG) of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and Adjoint Professor of Physics at Vanderbilt University, USA as well as visiting scholar of RIKEN Institute in Japan. He is also Scientific Advisor to the Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico. MEDINA TANCO made his major in Physics at UNT in Argentina, his PhD at USP in Brazil, and postdoctoral stays at IAG-USP, University of Cambridge, UK, and University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of 217 articles in scientific refereed journals and more than 500 conference papers, with more that 20,000 citations.
Dr. Gustavo MEDINA TANCO is Professor at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of UNAM in Mexico, where he leads the group of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and is the Head of the Laboratory for Space Instrumentation, LINX, which he created in 2009. He has also created, and is responsible for, the National Laboratory for Space Access (LANAE) in state of Hidalgo, Mexico, which will start operation in 2022. He was for 10 years the science coordinator of the International JEM-EUSO Collaboration and member of its executive board and, as such he lead the Mexican participation in the development of several instruments under the coordination of CNES, NASA, ASI and ROSCOSMOS. He implemented a platform for stratospheric ballooning of small science and engineering payloads which operates regularly from Mexico and has also flown in cooperation with CSBF-NASA. He has been the PI and project manager of the NanoConnect-2 satellite and the COLMENA lunar mission. He has been a member of the Commissions of Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities respectively, of the Confederation of Chambers of Industry of Mexico (CONCAMIN). He is an elected member of the IAA, member of the Science Group of the ISECG, of the Innovation and Commercialization WG of Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence, of the SATC of the IAF. He has been professor at the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (IAG) of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and Adjoint Professor of Physics at Vanderbilt University, USA as well as visiting scholar of RIKEN Institute in Japan. He is also Scientific Advisor to the Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico. MEDINA TANCO made his major in Physics at UNT in Argentina, his PhD at USP in Brazil, and postdoctoral stays at IAG-USP, University of Cambridge, UK, and University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of 217 articles in scientific refereed journals and more than 500 conference papers, with more that 20,000 citations.
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