Ana Cristina Pires

Ana Cristina Pires de Oliveira was born in Espinho, Portugal, on January 13th of 1980. She is a Researcher at INESC TEC's Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems and has been awarded a 6-year junior research contract under FCT/MCTES (CEECIND/00835/2018) on "Mapping underwater geological resources with robotics: a system tool for space-earth interaction and validation". She has a European Doctorate in Geosciences (Geological Resources and Geomaterials field) and MSc in Georesources and Geotechnics from Aveiro University, a Post-Graduation Course in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (FLUP), as well as a Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Degree (ISEP). She regularly collaborates as a researcher with the former training centers where spent over 11 years related to multi and interdisciplinary projects (Laboratory of Cartography and Applied Geology - LABCARGA|ISEP, and GeoBioTec|UA research unit). Between August 2019 to July 2020, she was an Invited-Scientist at the School of Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic of Porto. Presently she has been involved in several projects related to sustainable sea/marine mining, geotechnologies, and georesources, such as EMSO-PT Project and SIDENAV (supported by P2020 and FCT), INSite (Project Manager), UNEXUP, and MineHeritage Projects (supported by EIT Raw Materials). She works very closely with the preparation and submission of scientific or up-scaling projects related to underwater technologies. She was also the first Portuguese woman to finish with success the Scientist-Astronaut Program (Basic Astronautics), Class of 1802, under the framework of Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) supported by NASA. During the Fundamentals of Astronautics Course, that took place in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Florida, USA) she had the chance to perform acrobatic flights to experience G-forces, high-altitude simulation, and slow-onset hypoxia effects, learn about Spacesuit donning, doffing, pressure regulation, and contingency operations, etc. Ana Pires continues to pursue space training and to attend the research programs, therefore she has completed several courses in the scope of the Applied Astronautics Program awarded by the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), namely: AER 101 Suborbital Space Environment (Aeronomy Concentration); BIO 103 Microgravity Space Suit Evaluation (Bioastronautics: IVA Space Suit Evaluation Concentration); EVA 101 Life Support Systems and EVA 103 Planetary Field Geology and EVA Tool Development (Bioastronautics: EVA Space Suit Evaluation Concentration). Currently, she is the Co-Chair Knowledge Management of ¿Space For All Nations¿ (SFAN) project developed by the International Institute for Astronautical Science (IIAS) and PoSSUM Program. Since 2018 she has also made efforts in Portugal to promote human space flight, astrogeology, technology, robotics, STEAM outreach activities, and has also been invited to numerous public talks, media interviews, and conference events. Ana Pires is also a Specialist Diver (SSI Certification), with Marine Ecology and Science of Diving specialty courses. Very recently, she was selected to be part of the main crew of the "GEO-Pegasus" team to carry out an analog mission in April-May 2023 in the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), located in Utah (USA), owned, and operated by the Mars Society.