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Estel Blay

Estel Blay | Hypatia Mars Barcelona, Spain

Biography

Estel Blay Carreras is an aeronautical engineer with a PhD in Aerospace Science and Technology and more than fifteen years of professional experience in the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States.
Specialising in Earth observation, she has built her career in business development, project management and team leadership within the space sector. She currently manages the ESA Phi-Lab NET Spain programme at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), where she promotes innovation and the transfer of space technologies to improve climate resilience.
She is also a member of Hypatia Mars, participating in the Hypatia II mission as a scientist and Health and Safety Officer, and in Hypatia III as a scientist and Commander, giving her first-hand experience of Mars analogue missions.

Sessions

16:00h

Talk | .

What Will We Eat When We Go to Mars? Food of the Future and Space Expeditions

Estel Blay Hypatia Mars Aeronautical Engineer Speaker

2026-11-03 16:00 2026-11-03 17:00 Europe/Madrid What Will We Eat When We Go to Mars? Food of the Future and Space Expeditions What will we eat when humans travel to Mars? How can we plan food for a crew that will have to live far from Earth for extended periods of time? Space exploration presents numerous scientific and technological challenges, and food is one of the essential elements in ensuring the well-being of the crew and the success of a mission. Drawing on the experience of Hypatia Mars analogue missions, this presentation will explore the challenges of feeding a crew in extreme conditions and in an environment designed to simulate some of the constraints of a future expedition to Mars.
The session will examine how food is planned during a mission, which factors must be considered when selecting and preparing meals, and what limitations arise when resources, space and food preservation possibilities are very different from those we normally have on Earth.
This experience will also provide a starting point for reflecting on the future of food and how research related to space exploration can raise new questions about the production, preservation, preparation and consumption of food.
The presentation will be given by Estel Blay, a member of Hypatia Mars, an association of women scientists working to promote science, scientific outreach and its social impact from a gender perspective in Catalonia.
A journey connecting gastronomy, science and space exploration that invites us to consider a question that may sound futuristic but is already part of today’s research challenges: what will we eat when we reach Mars? Aula Alimentació Sostenible Barcelona

Tue 3

16:00h - 17:00h Aula Alimentació Sostenible Barcelona Free access