Portuguese student Lua Afonso wins Anita Gale Visionary Leadership Award at NASA competition

Eighteen‑year‑old Portuguese student Lua Afonso from Covilhã was honoured with the Anita Gale Visionary Leadership Award during the final of the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. The competition, regarded as the premier global student engineering contest for space settlement, featured 270 finalists chosen from 23,919 entrants worldwide.

The award, created to recognise exceptional technical skill, strategic vision, leadership and the ability to foster international team cooperation, was presented to Afonso in recognition of her individual contributions, even though the European team did not win the overall contest. The distinction was highlighted by the Fundação Luso‑Americana para o Desenvolvimento and the municipal council of Covilhã as a milestone for Portuguese talent in the aerospace sector.