In the unique setting of a crater that stretches 40 km in length in the Negev desert in Israel, the Austrian Space Forum has planted a “Martian base” as part of their Amadee-20 mission.
Originally planned last year but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the inauguration of this base took place on October 10, 2021.
The crater, the stony desert and the orange hues of the horizon approach the Martian landscape, less weightlessness and cold.
"Here we have temperatures which are 25-30 degrees, on Mars it is minus 60 degrees Celsius and the atmosphere is unbreathable", explains the Austrian Gernot Grömer, who supervises the mission.
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For almost a month, six "analogous astronauts" (an expression used to describe people reproducing on Earth the conditions of a long mission in space) from Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Israel, will live cut off from the world in this "Martian station".
And they can only get out of it in a spacesuit, as if they were on the Red Planet.
"It's a dream come true," raves Alon Tenzer, 36-year-old Israeli astronaut.
"It's something we've been working on for several years, I'm very happy to be here," he told AFP.
On the occasion of the inauguration of the station, Alon put on his finery: his silver jumpsuit weighs, he says, about 50 kilos, and takes two to three hours to put on.
The mission aims to test equipment and technologies, but also to study human behavior.
And in particular the impact of isolation on astronauts.
“Group consistency and the ability to work together is crucial to survive on Mars,” said supervisor Gernot Grömer.
"It's like in a marriage, except that in a marriage, you can leave, on Mars you cannot", he quips.
"What we are doing here is preparing for the greatest trip our society has ever made, Mars and Earth being located 380 million kilometers away at their most extreme points," he continues.
Mr. Grömer is certain: “the first Man who will walk on Mars has already been born”.