A conference on space, in front of 200 middle school students, can quickly become boring.
Quite the opposite happened in the amphitheater of the Aube Sports Center.
Students from the Marie-Curie college, located on the other side of the street, attended one after the other throughout Friday, February 2, for a seminar on space.
The college students dealt with two specialists who made this sometimes complex field within their reach.
Compliance and ethics manager at Cnes (national center for space studies), Philippe Clerc was accompanied by Michel Viso.
A veterinarian by training, the latter is a former astronaut candidate.
Although he did not participate in a space flight, he collaborated on numerous projects such as Hermès, which had the ambition to build a European space shuttle (a project abandoned in 1992).
He was also responsible for the “Exobiology” program at Cnes, that is to say the study of life in the Universe.
“Put stars in their eyes”
Through their simple speech, the two speakers were able to capture the attention of the students, not hesitating to regularly go up the steps to hand them the microphone so that they could ask their questions.
“What is space?
» Michel Viso immediately launched.
The responses flooded in.
Most of them imbued with common sense before the specialist sheds light on the debate.
Principal of Marie-Curie College, Denis Jourdain-Auvray was keen to offer this meeting to students “to demonstrate to them the importance of science in everyday life.
The space connects many of the subjects taught at the college.
»
With nerve, the head of the establishment sent an email to Cnes to explain his project.
“I suggested they come see us and one day the phone rang!
Michel Viso asked me to make the most of them in order to reach as many young people as possible.
For our students, it is important to meet such people in order to put stars in their eyes.
»
Break down psychological barriers
Beyond the formula, Denis Jourdain-Auvray hopes that this day will have sparked vocations and broken down the psychological barriers that students and those around them set in relation to these professions which sometimes seem inaccessible.
“We wanted to broaden the audience of this seminar to high school students, college students and staff,” says the principal.
The day before the marathon day which saw all levels succeed one another in the amphitheater, Philippe Clerc and Michel Viso held a conference for the aforementioned audiences.
Also read: Thomas Pesquet: “In Europe, no one has a better chance than me of going to the Moon”
In their remarks, the two speakers insisted on the notion of excellence.
Essential when sending women and men into space, it applies to all professions.
“Whatever path you take, don’t be average!”
» warned Michel Viso.
“Don’t be an average plumber, an average welder…” The students’ questions lived up to this requirement.
“Did Man Really Walk on the Moon?
» arrived quickly.
“Do you believe it?
returned Michel Viso.
Such was the rivalry between the United States and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) at the time that if Man had not walked on the moon, it would have made noise on the other side!
There is a body of evidence to support this.
» Asked about sending animals into space, the former veterinarian was happy to detail the numerous projects in the field.
»
Last question of this intense exchange?
“Can we live on Mars?
» In the short term no, but NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States) plans to send the first men there by 2040. A great goal for the college students who have kept their heads in the stars after the departure of Philippe Clerc and Michel Viso for other missions.