Portuguese is one of the winners of Call ESA's #SpaceSelfie

During the month of November 2018, the European Space Agency (ESA) held the European Space Talks initiative , which in Portugal had the support of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Within the scope of the initiative, the following also took place: Call #SpaceSelfie photography contest whose winners have now been announced by ESA. One of the selected photographs is by Portuguese Vanessa Dias, who will travel to Kourou, ESA's launch base in French Guiana , to watch a live space rocket launch.

The young woman took her selfie after participating in the activity on November 24th, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium-Centro Ciência Viva, organized by the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA). The challenge was to participate in one of the European Space Talks activities, take a photograph around the theme of space and share it on social media with the hashtag of the name of the Call . “After the session it rained and when I opened my umbrella I smiled, because the truth is that I wear hats with constellations and stars and whenever it rains I have the starry sky above me”, Vanessa told IA.

Vanessa Dias has a career linked to Social Sciences and Arts, and has a great interest in astronomy. “I feel that Space concerns all of us, in that everything we are is also part of Space,” he told the institute.

The main objective of the European Space Talks was to bring together citizens, companies, institutions, schools and all interested parties to organize sessions in different formats to discuss various topics related to Space. During the month of November 2018, 280 events were held in 27 European countries. In Portugal, 11 sessions were held, organized by different institutions.

Photo credits: Vanessa Dias