“My relationship with Mars is a relationship… of infinity, of discovery of the unknown, of attraction for new spaces that can also teach us where we come from, what our place in the universe is, how we got to Earth ”. Aline Decadi, who works at the European Space Agency, is a rocket engineer on Ariane 6, but also a member of the Planète Mars association.
To get to Mars, we would need “A spaceship that will surely serve as our habitat initially, one space suit per astronaut, that’s the basic thing. And the primary needs for survival will be to reproduce a small terrestrial sphere compatible with life on Mars. ” In short: water, oxygen, temperature and pressure compatible with our body. Because we will have to stay 18 months there.
Despite the number of challenges to be met, the scientific community is already studying the feasibility of such a mission, and its needs to be carried out successfully. How to make on the spot so water and oxygen, but also to eat. An algae, red amaranth, could prevent astronauts from eating only “tube” meals. Inhabitable underground infrastructures are also envisaged, so that humans can protect themselves from dangerous radiation.
With Olivier Emond, head of the science, health and environment department at franceinfo, this 7-part podcast takes you on a journey to a planet that has always fascinated people. They often projected their dreams there, as well as their worries at certain times. Go aboard the missions which, for the last fifty years, have scrutinized, analyzed from afar and very closely this star. Embark on board the very last machines ready to cross its soil. And imagine our trip there. Humanity is ready to set foot on Mars during this century. For this sound journey, a few teammates, engineers, planetologist, astrophysicists, journalist … and a firing point: the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse. Ready for take off?
