From astronauts to scuba divers, the elite of explorers back to Portugal for the summit in the Azores
Mike Alegria, born in Spain and former NASA astronaut, has just returned from a scientific mission to the International Space Station, the first entirely private. Last summer, he was in Portugal for the Glex Summit 2021, he already had plans to return to space, nothing his now 63 years old told him when they hesitated. Now, Mike Alegria, like Nina Lanza, a scientist who controls the American Mars rovers, or Mario Rigby, the Canadian who crossed on foot from the south, are the type of participants that usually make a dream come true of those who attend the conferences integrated in the Glex Summit, an initiative of the Explorers Club of New York and the Expanding World by Portuguese Manuel Vaz. And this year’s edition, under the motto What’s Next?, the third, will not only take place again in Portugal, between the 4th and 7th of July, but this time it will have the Azores.
In DN interviews with Alegria, Lanza and Rigby, or with the president of the Explorers Club, Richard Garriot (a video game entrepreneur who has been to space and the Mariana Trench), it was always evident to a navigator, the country of great navigators, and the fascination for the Azores, for the combination of architectural and natural beauty. Therefore, at the event, taking place in the first week of July, the island of São Miguel will be the main stage, while in 2021 the Gare Marítima de Alcântara, in Lisbon, was central and then there was an extension of activities to Teatro Micaelense, in Thin tip.
“There’s no better place to find out what’s next in exploration, than an island that was once an empty space on the map, until brave explorers find it. of Portuguese navigators. From the crossing of the Atlantic, to the crossing of the stars, we are on the threshold of a new golden age of exploration”, said Garriot at the Explorers Club gala in New York, on Sunday, which served as an announcement of the first draft of the Glex Summit 2022.
The explorers will be half-programmed, the program will include more than 40 presentation panels, divided into four main themes: Oceans; Space exploration; Nature Conservation Climate Change; and the current and future Great Expeditions of our time, according to the organizers. Among these, Manuel Vaz played a decisive role in the connection between the New York club and Portugal. And, for this very reason, speaking about the various summits, he says: “In 2019, we wanted to mark the beginning of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of circumnavigation, imagining this summit as a kind of Davos of world exploration. Now, taking advantage of this change of Strategic sustainability for exploration, the Glex Summit also reaffirms the importance of this strategy for Portugal, as the importance of this entrepreneurship and innovation, but as the importance of the production destination and scientific sharing, with the country and the solutions for the new challenges of scientific knowledge and sharing our ecosystems”. The Glex Summit is located in the Regional Government of the Azores, Turismo de Portugal, the Portuguese Space Agency and the Mission Structure of the V Centenary of the First Circumnavigation Voyage, from 1519 by the Portuguese Fernão de Magalhães and ended by the Spanish Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522.
Speakers include James B. Garvin, NASA’s chief scientist for Mars exploration and current leader of the DAVINCI+ mission, rumored to be the planet Venus. Also present will be Nicole Stomarinho, veteran astronaut, Austin Gallagher, award-winning marine biologist, the conservative couple Beverly and Dereck Jouberts, French, who for more than 30 years have celebrated nature and wildlife in documentaries, books and scientific magazines. Also highlighted, in a list that will grow, for scientists Glen Gowers and Oliver Vincent, who will present Basecamp Research, a biological data company that is revolutionizing the discovery of proteins in natural biodiverse.