7 aerospace students take off for Mars…in Utah, USA
Seven students from ISAE Supaero in Toulouse today carried out a simulation of life on Mars. The American research station on Mars, in the desert of Utah in the United States, they will try to advance the research.
No rocket, but a simple plane flight to reach the red planet. The seven students, all in aerospace engineering at ISAE Supaero in Toulouse (Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space), will occupy a replica of a space station for three weeks in the heart of the Utah desert.
The operation, carried out in partnership with Cnes, CNRS and Toulouse University Hospital, will be commanded by Cerise Cuny, 24, who already left in 2019.I found the experience amazing“, she told Toulouse news Before his departure.
On site, she will have to ensure that the experiments are successful (geology, use of an ultrasound scanner, piloting drones, consequences of isolation on the organs, etc.).
Since 2001, the American association Martian Society allows scientists and students to visit the American research station on Mars. They must respect strict confinement there and will have no possibility of contacting their relatives during the operation.
The mission of “crew 263”, the second crew of the year to go to Utah, specifies ISAE Supaero in a press release, will be to study “the challenges and constraints of future human spaceflight while rethinking science in an extraterrestrial environment“.
And everyone has a well-defined role: botanist, health/safety, biologist/geologist, astronomer, flight engineer, journalist, not forgetting the captain, Cerise Cuny. Their experiences could be tracked on their Twitter account.
Largely female, the crew also contributed to “promote the space sector” in middle and high schools while encouraging those who forbid it to dare to pursue scientific careers, says ISAE Supaero. In line with the commitments made by the space agencies, which today only have an average of 10% of female astronauts.