Day: March 14, 2019

Sol 18

Author : Benjamin Auzou, Journalist

Meaningful thoughts

Even more than yesterday, we are feeling the end of the mission
approaching, today we cleaned the entire station to prepare the arrival
of crew 207, filmed answers to questions asked by French middle and high
school students on our mission, and explored for the first time the
Eastern part of the MDRS campus. It was a special EVA since it was the
last of the mission for Cerise and Jérémie, and if Cerise may be back as
a Commander next year, it was for Jérémie the last EVA on Martian soil
as a member of an ISAE-SUPAERO crew, which gave a particular flavor to
the exploration. We visited the surroundings of the Candor Chasma canyon
and its majestic and unknown landscapes for all of us. We took the time
to admire what we had in front of our eyes and Jérémie was able to take
his last shots of the Red Planet. I especially want to thank him for
what he did for the crew and the Club MARS (our assocation); Green-Hab
Officer of mission 189 and Commander of this mission 206, he was
actively involved in the smooth running of these missions and the
development of scientific experiments. In parallel he also participated
in the diversification of the activities of the association, by getting
involved in particular in the social opening activities of the program
OSE L’ISAE-SUPAERO. On behalf of the rest of the crew, I wish him well
in the exciting internship that awaits him and for his graduation, with
the certainty that the three weeks we spent together here have forged
links that go beyond the distance that will cause our dispersion
throughout the world for our different internships and courses.

After these three busy weeks of mission, which will end tomorrow, we
begin to make the balance of this adventure. Everyone came here with
goals, whether individual or collective, and we are starting to get the
answers. How are we going to live in confinement? How will relationships
within the crew evolve? What scientific results are we going to get?
These are the reasons of this human and scientific mission. We have
prepared for a year this mission together in parallel with other actions
such as interventions in middle schools and high schools. This is what
makes us a welded and unflappable crew and founds all the human
dimension of the mission : we learned a lot about ourselves and the life
of a crew.

But we’re doing this mission first and foremost to advance science and
bring Man to Mars. We spent three weeks in confinement, participating in
and deploying many experiments. These had the goal to study the
influence of confinement on our behavior, performance, motivation, but
also to establish experimental reproducible protocols in the perspective
of a scientific mission to Mars.

While Neil Armstrong made the first leap on the Moon for Humanity, the
first step on Mars will be made by humanity. The key to the success of
this great human building is collaboration: be it international
collaboration or collaboration between national and private actors.
Indeed, the exploration of Mars can not be the work of a single nation,
of an isolated compagny, but of a group of organizations and people. And
if a small number of people will first reach the red planet, this will
be the result of the work of many people before them. Engineers working
in agencies and companies on the production of technical resources,
scientists involved in the development of concepts and processes to
improve human space flight, diplomats acting to promote space
exploration, students who participate in their scale to the foundations
of modern space flight, teachers giving to the young population the
passion of science, the people passionate about space that speak around
them about this passion and the advances that it generates, etc…

In the last days of this mission, I have a special thought for my high
school physics teacher, Pascal Martin, who tragically died of a car
accident. This fascinating man has always impressed me with the passion
and heart he put into the teaching of science, and so much more. He also
had the ability to adapt to the needs of each student that allowed
everyone to make progress, whether they were a little genius of physics
or a student in difficulty. In particular, he transmitted to me, in
addition to knowledge of the school program, a big part of his curiosity
for science, his desire to discover things, while working to share
knowledge. I recognize him particularly in the two vocations of the Club
MARS: research and scientific popularization.
To him who wanted the success and happiness of all of his students, in
and out of school, in private and professional life, I can assure you
that today I am living a wonderful adventure that contributes to an even
greater goal. And for that and on behalf of all my classmates he has
participated in the success and accomplishment: Thank you! Sol 18

Author : Benjamin Auzou, Journalist

Meaningful thoughts

Even more than yesterday, we are feeling the end of the mission
approaching, today we cleaned the entire station to prepare the arrival
of crew 207, filmed answers to questions asked by French middle and high
school students on our mission, and explored for the first time the
Eastern part of the MDRS campus. It was a special EVA since it was the
last of the mission for Cerise and Jérémie, and if Cerise may be back as
a Commander next year, it was for Jérémie the last EVA on Martian soil
as a member of an ISAE-SUPAERO crew, which gave a particular flavor to
the exploration. We visited the surroundings of the Candor Chasma canyon
and its majestic and unknown landscapes for all of us. We took the time
to admire what we had in front of our eyes and Jérémie was able to take
his last shots of the Red Planet. I especially want to thank him for
what he did for the crew and the Club MARS (our assocation); Green-Hab
Officer of mission 189 and Commander of this mission 206, he was
actively involved in the smooth running of these missions and the
development of scientific experiments. In parallel he also participated
in the diversification of the activities of the association, by getting
involved in particular in the social opening activities of the program
OSE L’ISAE-SUPAERO. On behalf of the rest of the crew, I wish him well
in the exciting internship that awaits him and for his graduation, with
the certainty that the three weeks we spent together here have forged
links that go beyond the distance that will cause our dispersion
throughout the world for our different internships and courses.

After these three busy weeks of mission, which will end tomorrow, we
begin to make the balance of this adventure. Everyone came here with
goals, whether individual or collective, and we are starting to get the
answers. How are we going to live in confinement? How will relationships
within the crew evolve? What scientific results are we going to get?
These are the reasons of this human and scientific mission. We have
prepared for a year this mission together in parallel with other actions
such as interventions in middle schools and high schools. This is what
makes us a welded and unflappable crew and founds all the human
dimension of the mission : we learned a lot about ourselves and the life
of a crew.

But we’re doing this mission first and foremost to advance science and
bring Man to Mars. We spent three weeks in confinement, participating in
and deploying many experiments. These had the goal to study the
influence of confinement on our behavior, performance, motivation, but
also to establish experimental reproducible protocols in the perspective
of a scientific mission to Mars.

While Neil Armstrong made the first leap on the Moon for Humanity, the
first step on Mars will be made by humanity. The key to the success of
this great human building is collaboration: be it international
collaboration or collaboration between national and private actors.
Indeed, the exploration of Mars can not be the work of a single nation,
of an isolated compagny, but of a group of organizations and people. And
if a small number of people will first reach the red planet, this will
be the result of the work of many people before them. Engineers working
in agencies and companies on the production of technical resources,
scientists involved in the development of concepts and processes to
improve human space flight, diplomats acting to promote space
exploration, students who participate in their scale to the foundations
of modern space flight, teachers giving to the young population the
passion of science, the people passionate about space that speak around
them about this passion and the advances that it generates, etc…

In the last days of this mission, I have a special thought for my high
school physics teacher, Pascal Martin, who tragically died of a car
accident. This fascinating man has always impressed me with the passion
and heart he put into the teaching of science, and so much more. He also
had the ability to adapt to the needs of each student that allowed
everyone to make progress, whether they were a little genius of physics
or a student in difficulty. In particular, he transmitted to me, in
addition to knowledge of the school program, a big part of his curiosity
for science, his desire to discover things, while working to share
knowledge. I recognize him particularly in the two vocations of the Club
MARS: research and scientific popularization.
To him who wanted the success and happiness of all of his students, in
and out of school, in private and professional life, I can assure you
that today I am living a wonderful adventure that contributes to an even
greater goal. And for that and on behalf of all my classmates he has
participated in the success and accomplishment: Thank you!