Yair Piña waves Mexican flag on “Mars”

Yair Israel Piña López, a student from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) who was recruited by NASA in February to study planet Mars, shared on his Facebook account a photography where he waves a Mexican flag while walking on the research station.

“It doesn't matter how far I am from Mexico, there are moments in my life that make me love my country more than ever. Long live Mexico!” he wrote in the message next to the image.

Piña López, who is only 20 years old, was accepted on October 2016 as a research student in the International Council of Space Education and in mid-February he was chosen to be part of the 180 aircrew which studies in the Mars Desert Research Station.

The work mission, that is under similar conditions to those of the red planet, began on April 29 and will end Sunday, May 14, in the Utah desert, Hanksville, U.S.

The young Physics student won a place in the NASA due to his work on the development of materials with thermoluminescent proprieties for the measurement of space radiation.

Yahir was also invited to the Project Pilot Manager in the University of Samara, Russia, and develop a satellite component to measure the amount of ions in the ionosphere.

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