I’ve always had a fascination with space science and technology. It started when I was a kid with watching sci-fi cartoons and Soviet movies about space exploration, continued later with a vivid interest in science fiction, and I ultimately found myself at the physics department of Moscow State University.

Math was one of my favorite subjects at school - I really enjoyed solving geometry puzzles and was “naturally” good at it. However, physics turned out to be much more challenging and it took a lot of courage, self-discipline and motivation to first get into this traditionally male-dominated field and to not give up no matter what, until my graduation.

The Sky is Not the Limit

For my first space-related science project, I analyzed data form the MIR space station during its passes above major regions of thunderstorm activity (at ~350 km altitude) and examined the possibility of cold fusion in lighting bolts and resulting production of neutrons that can be detected onboard the station.
Later, during my PhD project, I “switched” to regions further away from the Earth (up to tens of thousands kilometers), called the radiation belts, that consist of energetic charged particles and can pose danger to both satellites and astronauts working on orbit.

I am interested in the dynamics of the radiation belt particles, their interaction with plasma waves and processes responsible for their loss and “precipitation” into the atmosphere. Understanding of these processes should augment our knowledge of space radiation environment and ability to build space weather prediction models, and improve radiation safety for future manned space missions.
Overall, over my research career I was lucky enough to get experience in data analysis, computer simulations, and working with hardware – from building and testing scientific instrumentation to using in-situ data for numerical modeling on a supercomputer.

My advice to young scientists is: don’t get discouraged easily, maintain a positive attitude, be flexible in life and be open to changes and new opportunities. Be prepared to change cities and move between countries, learn from different people, try various working styles, and don’t be afraid of new challenges. Of course talent and motivation are important! On top of that, in your early career it is very important to find a great supervisor who would get you excited about your research project and provide guidance and support when needed. Then the sky is not the limit!

Eleni Chatzichristou

MAARBLE Outreach Team