All Planetary & Exploration Science

The Mineralogy-Geology laboratory is one of the best equipped laboratories in Greece for studying natural resources and the physical, chemical, structural, and mechanical properties of earth materials. It has all the necessary equipment, including scientific tools, a PC, and software. Over the last decades, the laboratory participated in more than 30 research projects under private, national, or EU funds. These projects include consulting for major infrastructure works, environmental and hydrogeological studies, water and soil quality inspections, rock mechanics, geotechnical properties, assessment of natural hazards, and remote sensing applications in flood and landslide risks, monitoring erosion, and inspecting drainage and irrigation systems. The lab personnel have more than 60 publications in journals. The main activities of the Mineralogy–Geology Laboratory are: a) Geohazards, Earthquake Geology, Seismic Hazards, Earthquake Environmental Effects, Soil Erosion, Post-Fire Effects, Floods, LiDAR; b) Mineralogy-Petrology-Geochemistry, Martian and Chondrite Meteorites, Asteroid formation processes, Shock dehydration on accreting planets and asteroids, Martian analogue rock sites; c) The remote sensing sector specialises in Earth observation and geospatial applications in the broader fields of environmental monitoring and management of natural resources and natural disasters, geology, agriculture, and forestry; d) Major and trace elements analysis on water and soil samples, physical (e.g., pH, Eh, TDS, electrical conductivity) and biogeochemical (COD, BOD, TOC) parameters in water and soil analyses.

The Space Programmes Unit (SPU) operates under the General Directorate of the “AΤΗΕΝΑ” Research and Innovation Centre in Information, Communication, and Knowledge Technologies (ARC). The principal objective of the Space Programmes Unit is to foster participation of Greece in all aspects of the country’s membership in ESA and assist the nation’s competitiveness by advancing the use of leading-edge technologies in space engineering and science in the national, European, and international domains. The Space Programmes Unit, as part of the General Secretariat of Science and Technology, advances the GSRT agenda of public service through research, technological literacy, and the application of knowledge to the nation’s affairs. The unit’s areas of activity include: Feasibility Studies for Innovative Space Mission Concepts, Innovative Space Systems Feasibility, In-Orbit Demo Applications with Nano-Satellites, Nano-Satellite Constellation Missions, On-Board Data Processing Units, S/C Housekeeping & Essential Telemetry, Space Weather.