More than 100 kilometers into Brazil’s arid interior, Dominican pilot-in-training and science advocate Alba Carolina Vásquez is preparing to make history. Selected to join an international analog space mission at Habitat Mars, she will become the first Dominican to participate in this kind of simulated extraterrestrial training. From July 7 to 11, Alba will join an international crew for a five-sol (Martian day) mission, simulating life on Mars or the Moon through scientific tasks, emergency drills, and extravehicular activities (EVA) under extreme conditions.
At just 27 years old, Alba has built a distinguished career at the intersection of science, education, and innovation. A graduate of PUCMM with additional studies in criminology and astrobiology, she is currently training to become a pilot. She led the winning team at NASA’s 2024 Space Apps Challenge in Santo Domingo and mentored the award-winning Dominican student team AstroBosco in NASA’s 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. She is also set to organize the 2025 Space Apps Challenge in Santiago de los Caballeros. Her participation in the Habitat Mars mission is being supported by the Dominican Ministry of Youth and the Dominican Astronomical Society.
The mission will be held at Habitat Mars, a pioneering analog research station in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte region, led by scientist Julio Rezende. Founded in 2017, it is the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and serves as a testing ground for technologies related to space survival, sustainability, and psychological resilience in isolation. With aquaponics greenhouses, renewable energy systems, and simulated space operations, Habitat Mars plays a vital role in preparing for humanity’s future beyond Earth.