Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos
Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Research Scientist. Previously, Scientific Advisor of the Senate of Chile and Head of the Department of Astrobiology of the AngelicvM Center for Aerospace Research and Development. Professor of Astrobiology at the Universidad de los Andes. With extensive experience in the field of microbiology of extreme environments and Astrobiology. With 10 years of joint research with NASA. Part of the team of the first Chilean Mission to space, and part of the AngelicvM Team participating in the Google Lunar X Prize. Among others, I started a research line in 2003 focused in the understanding of the extreme tolerance to low water availability of Atacama microorganisms, the molecular basis of this tolerance and Astrobiology. In particular, I have found and reported several new microbial species of the Atacama Desert. My work may be of help to understand the fascinating relationship between water and habitability on Earth, using the Atacama as an extreme environment as a model to understand the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe. With frequent appearances in the main newspapers of Chile, and in some international sites. Among other projects I am working now is sending a small greenhouse to Mars in collaboration with NASA, and the fulfilment of the first experiment of genetic engineering at the International Space Station.
(from https://cl.linkedin.com/in/armando-azua-bustos-508564a)