This week finds me in Greece, more precisely Thessaloniki, where I am trying to prove the theory that work and pleasure can mix!

I am here at the 6th International Conference of Aerospace Medicine, kindly organized by the Greek Aerospace Medical Association, in conjunction with the International Academy of Astronautics.

Given the current world financial climate, and knowing in particular how hard Greece has been hit, I take my hat off to Dr. Chrysoula Kourtidou-Papadeli who we must all thank for organizing and obtaining the funding for this event.

The meeting, which is usually held every two years, brings together many leading names from the world of aerospace medicine and this year is no exception. Speakers will include ESA astronaut Frank De Winne whose first Space flight was in 2002, and Dr. Chiaki Mukai, the first female Japanese astronaut who flew in 1994, to name but a couple – with the collective experience of those involved being immeasurable.

And all taking place in a city bathed in Greek sunshine – always a bonus! 

Encouraged by the success of two recent space missions, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is set to launch a further mission to Mercury in 2014 using a spacecraft covered in mirrors - the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).

The theory goes that the mirrors will help reflect the intense heat of the sun, with the mirrors remaining at a temperature of about 160C (320F), and the inner body of the craft holding the observation equipment being kept to below 60C (140F) – hopefully enabling the MMO to survive. 

The craft will stand around 6ft high and will be powered in part by solar energy collected by panels wrapped around a main body that will constantly rotate to prevent any one side becoming too hot.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun although not the hottest. Because of its proximity to the sun it lacks an atmosphere as this was 'burned off' long ago,  leaving an empty wasteland of rock with a similar surface to the Earth’s moon. There is nothing to hold in solar radiation and so it just flies out into space. 

Next planet along Venus, however, is a different story altogether. The atmosphere there is mainly composed of carbon dioxide (the primary green house gas) which acts like a one-way door for the solar heat - solar heat enters, but cannot leave again and thus, an oven is created.  

According to leading national newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun this week, the Japanese government is planning on investing  $2.2 billion over the next 10 years on lunar research.

Phase 1 of the plan will see a mobile robot being sent to the moon by 2015, which will send video images of the surface as well as conducting seismographic research on the Moon's composition. The following 5 years will see a research centre (producing its own electricity) being established on the Moon's south pole to study the surface within a 100km radius, with some of the samples being sent back to Earth for further evaluation.

Despite the USA's abandonment of any future lunar based activities, Japan intends to go full speed ahead as it tries to secure its position on the Moon before China and India complete their programs.