Schedule
Keynote Speech – Dr. Anastasia Fiori Mentallinou
DESCRIPTION: We begin with a historical overview of the pioneers of rocket science, exploring how early theoretical concepts became the driving force that enabled humanity to escape Earth’s gravity and laying the foundations for space exploration. We then highlight the most significant missions to the Moon, with particular focus on the landmark Artemis II mission, presenting new insights from crewed flights beyond low Earth orbit and emphasizing the physical and technical challenges of this ambitious endeavor. The presentation concludes with the future prospects of the Artemis program, outlining the next steps toward a sustained human presence on the Moon and the path ahead for future missions to Mars.
SPEAKER PHOTO:
ANASTASIA’S BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Fiori – Anastasia Μetallinou Is a Public Outreach Officer at Thissio Visitor Center of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and a National Outreach Coordinator of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). She received her diploma in Physics, and her M.Sc. degree in Atmospheric and Environmental Physics from the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, and her Ph.D in "Development and Recovery of Magnetic Storms in Geospace". Her research background is on simulating ion acceleration in the Earth's magnetosphere during magnetic storms. She has collaborated with the Centre d’étude des Environnements Terrestre et Planetaires in France, the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, USA and the National Technical University of Athens, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has collaborated with the majority of the astronomy clubs and amateur astronomers in Greece. She has used a portable planetarium for giving astronomy lessons to primary and secondary school students. She has organized astrophotography exhibitions and activities combining Science and Art, and she has been a TEDx speaker. She has received a diploma in classical singing. As an astronomer and musician she has been involved in sonification projects in order to engage general public to astronomy through sound. She collaborates with composers of electronic music, sound engineers and musicologists from the Department of Music of the National and Kapodestrian University of Athens and the Department of Audio and Visual Arts at Ionion University in Greece, for sonifying scientific data. She contributes to the dissemination of astronomy and space physics concepts with public lectures, articles in the media and TV shows.