{"id":106404,"date":"2025-01-13T10:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/?post_type=noticias&p=106404"},"modified":"2025-01-13T10:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:57:13","slug":"uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/en\/noticias\/uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"UANL student leads NASA Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cynthia Elizabeth Valenzuela Chapa, <\/span>a tenth-grade<\/span> Biotechnology and Genomics<\/span> student<\/span> at the<\/span> UANL School of Biological Sciences<\/span>, <\/span>won first prize in the <\/span>International Air and Space Program<\/span><\/span>\u202f(<\/span><\/span>IASP)<\/span> with a project where, along with her team, <\/span>they introduced <\/span>a bio-coating capable of protecting lunar bases <\/span>from radiation.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This competition <\/span>was held in Huntsville, Alabama,<\/span> thanks to a collaboration between NASA and AEXA, a<\/span> Mexican<\/span> transnational company focused <\/span>on<\/span> the development of <\/span>new technologies<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The selected <\/span>students for this competition <\/span>participated<\/span> in a five-day educational program<\/span> aimed to develop<\/span> a<\/span> proposal <\/span>that contributes to the solution of problems in the aerospace sector.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>winner <\/span>t<\/span>eam<\/span>, that goes<\/span> by<\/span> the name of<\/span> Luminys<\/span>, <\/span>was <\/span>formed by Valenzuela Chapa and seven members more, <\/span>through <\/span>which<\/span> six <\/span>are <\/span>Mexicans and one <\/span>Guatemal<\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span>. Winning <\/span>among 60 students from all over the world<\/span>, <\/span>their proposal could be applied in NASA’s international space program Artemis, which seeks to take astronauts back to the Moon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018<\/span>It <\/span>was a dream c<\/span>ome <\/span>true,\u2019<\/span>\u2019<\/span> she <\/span>mentioned<\/span>. \u2018\u2018I knew about this <\/span>competition since I was <\/span>in <\/span>first grade, back when I was 17. Even then I <\/span>really wanted to go, but I had no <\/span>idea<\/span> what to do as a proposal, and I was very inexperienced in other aspects.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

University President\u2019 Santos Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez<\/span> congratulated the university<\/span> student, who was able to <\/span>demonstrate<\/span> to the scientific community the <\/span>Maximum Academic Institution<\/span> teaching quality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018Our deepest gratitude to Cynthia for this great achievement, which is undoubtedly a matter of satisfaction for her, and a matter of pride for the UANL community, since it demonstrates the excellent and world-class quality education offered by our University.\u2019\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Santos Guzm\u00e1n L\u00f3pez
\nUANL\u2019s President\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A need to protect astronauts from radiation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Valenzuela Chapa\u2019s team bio-coating proposal is made from lunar regolith, a cyanobacterium capable of producing oxygen, as well as protecting itself from UV radiation, able to resist against a large amount of gamma and UV radiation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018The bacteria and cyanobacteria help each other to survive, which leads the cyanobacteria to produce oxygen, something relevant to us, since the oxygen produced is going to be stored and then used for other purposes.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Cynthia Elizabeth Valenzuela Chapa
\nBiotechnology and Genomics student at the School of Biological Sciences<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018\u2018Meanwhile<\/span>, the radiation-resistant bacteria will produce proteins and a biofilm,\u2019<\/span>\u2019 s<\/span>he added, <\/span>\u2018\u2018<\/span>and once <\/span>the<\/span>se blends<\/span> together<\/span>, <\/span>it<\/span> will be placed on the <\/span>top and side parts<\/span> of the <\/span>lunar bases<\/span> in order to<\/span> protect them from radiation.<\/span>\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The UANL <\/span>student<\/span>, along with her<\/span> team<\/span>, <\/span>will have <\/span>to <\/span>complete <\/span>the <\/span>necessary<\/span> laboratory<\/span> tests <\/span>in a matter of time between <\/span>six months <\/span>to<\/span> a year<\/span>,<\/span> and then <\/span>send all the material to the International Space Station.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Radiation is one of the most extreme environmental factors on the Moon. This type of radiation is very harmful both to the astronauts and crops health, crops which we hope astronauts will be able to consume in the long run.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Cynthia Elizabeth Valenzuela Chapa<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018<\/span>So, if we <\/span>are able to<\/span> use this product to cover the lunar bases, we <\/span>will be able to <\/span>protect the astronauts<\/span>,<\/span> and if we <\/span>also consider covering<\/span> the greenhouses<\/span>, <\/span>we can also protect the <\/span>crops,<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>she said<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bio-coating Elements<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Lunar regolith.<\/span><\/b> A layer of fine dust that covers the lunar surface.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Synechococcus elongatus.<\/span><\/b> A unicellular cyanobacterium widespread in the marine environment.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Deinococcus radiodurans.<\/span><\/b> An extremophile bacterium and one of the most radiation-resistant organisms known.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cynthia Elizabeth Valenzuela Chapa, a tenth-grade Biotechnology and Genomics student at the UANL School of Biological Sciences, won first prize in the International Air and Space Program\u202f(IASP) with a project where, along with her team, they introduced a bio-coating capable of protecting lunar bases from radiation.\u00a0 This competition was held in Huntsville, Alabama, thanks to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":106409,"template":"","tags":[16642,21765,21766,16641],"class_list":["post-106404","noticias","type-noticias","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biotechnology-and-genomics","tag-cynthia-elizabeth-valenzuela-chapa","tag-international-air-and-space-program","tag-uanl-school-of-biological-sciences","noticia-category-science-and-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUANL student leads NASA Innovation - Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Biological sciences student Cynthia Valenzuela got first place at the International Air and Space Program organized by NASA.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/en\/noticias\/uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UANL student leads NASA Innovation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Biological sciences student Cynthia Valenzuela got first place at the International Air and Space Program organized by NASA.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/en\/noticias\/uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uanlred\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/NASAUANL5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uanl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/en\/noticias\/uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uanl.mx\/en\/noticias\/uanl-student-leads-nasa-innovation\/\",\"name\":\"UANL student leads NASA Innovation - 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