The first French Martian found outdoors – Le Figaro

After a year of isolation in the living conditions of the red planet, astro-biologist Cyprien Verseux leaves Sunday dome 11 meters in diameter that he shared a desert volcano in Hawaii with five other comrades.

the longest experience of shelving to simulate life on Mars will end this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. , French time. On 29 August 2015, six volunteers were entering a dome 11 meters in diameter on a desert volcano in Hawaii. A year behind closed doors not to feel the sensation of the sun, the wind on his skin, eating freeze-dried food, to live without his family, with limited access to the Internet. Among the participants of this exceptional project funded by NASA included three men and three women: a German physicist, four Americans – a pilot, an architect, a doctor / journalist, a scientist specializing in sols- and French, Cyprien Verseux .

astro-biololgiste, who turned 26 in early August, and his cohorts will be welcomed to their output by a press conference and a buffet in the sun, where they can enjoy fruit juice and fresh food. A return to normal life Cyprien Verseux looking forward:

“To be outdoors, go into a store, walk down the street seems to be a surreal experience,” said the young man France Inter. On his blog, which served as a board book, the scientific portrayed his “thirst for new encounters and sensations, new scenery.” And explain: “the more confusing will see people who are not any of my five teammates. People that I could not recognize, eyes closed, the sound of their steps or their breathing. People with whom I will have more of a nod or a hand movement to make me understand. “

After a year Verseux Cyprien believes that” a of the most difficult aspects of the mission was the lack of change. ” “Being always in the same place – in this region where the reddish rock extends to the horizon and where the changing seasons are imperceptible – with the same people,” he said in New obs.

And describe the daily life of the small community. “Most of our day was dedicated to scientific research: it conducts studies, and studying us.” There were also one or two times a week “spacewalks” outside the dome, where these “astronauts” were to don a spacesuit. Objective: To explore the volcanic rock fields around the dome and map the lava tunnels.

To keep fit and look after the spirit, Cyprian Verseux also played sports (stationary bike, draw bar), learned the ukulele (small and light, the instrument is ideal for fit in the suitcase of a space traveler). He also entertained his fellow culinary prowess: egg pancakes and powdered milk, turkey quiche or reconstituted from meat dice rehydrate

The astro-biologist admits. the results of studies under the dome are encouraging and suggest that it will ever be possible to inhabit Mars. The French studying living organisms that can transform raw materials found on Mars in products that can be consumed by men.

While waiting to attack the next phases of its research, Cyprien has Verseux especially “looking forward to seeing his family, swimming, choose a book in a bookstore, enjoying a glass of whiskey.” In the dome Internet access was limited and the filtered communications – an email sent to Earth to Mars and vice versa and takes more than 20 minutes to arrive – the young man also wonders what the world looks like now . “According to the emails of my Parisian friends, I’m going back in a post apocalyptic France MadMax , with the unemployed who are fighting against the cops in the flooded streets of Paris, while teenagers catch Pokemon with their drinking …, “he summarizes.