Portuguese winner of ESA's #SpaceSelfie Call

During the month of November 2018, the European Space Agency (ESA) held the European Space Talks initiative, which in Portugal was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). As part of the initiative, the #SpaceSelfie photo Call was also held, the winners of which have now been announced by the ESA. One of the photographs selected 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 taking part in the activity on November 24 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium - Ciência Viva Centre, organized by the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA). The challenge was to take part in one of the European Space Talks activities, take a photo around the theme of space and share it on social media with the hashtag of the Call's name. "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 background in the Social Sciences and the Arts, and has a keen interest in astronomy. "I feel that space concerns us all, in that everything we are is also part of space," she told the institute.

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

Photo credit: Vanessa Dias