Fez – A Moroccan student at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, Somaya Bennani, has been selected to participate as an analog astronaut in the Asclepios II mission in July 2022.
After a year-long selection process, competing with hundreds of participants from around the world, Bennani has been proudly chosen to represent Morocco in this project, which is taking place somewhere in the Alps of Tessin.
Along with eight other international students, Bennani is getting ready to live an extraordinary adventure by participating in the Ascelpois II celestial mission which will conduct several scientific experiments.
The Asclepios II crew will “maintain and perform repairs of their base if needed, conduct scientific experiments, and communicate with the ground team of the MCC as would a regular astronaut crew,” according to the crew’s website.
Asclepios is a program bringing together students and scientists from all over the world in analog missions designed by students for students, under the mentorship of European Space Agency (ESA) professionals.
NASA defines analog missions as “field tests in locations that have physical similarities to the extreme space environments.”
A carbon copy of a lunar station has been created at 400 meters below the surface of Earth for Asclepios missions. The EPFL’s Space@yourservice association was in charge of building the facility in the access galleries of the Grimsel dam.
The program’s goal is to carry out successful two-week simulations for space missions to other planets, such as the Moon or even Mars, in order to pave the way for future space exploration of the solar system.
The Moroccan astronaut emphasizes that “Atlas crew let us dare to shoot for the moon and beyond!” For Bennani, the experience is also “A personal challenge to test [one’s] limits and discover ourselves.”
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Bennani believes that “space analog missions like Asclepios play an essential role for space exploration.” The Moroccan astronaut also sees that “simulating extraterrestrial missions on Earth, and collecting relevant socio-psychological data,” will help humankind for further exploration of outer space.
Claude Nicollier, a Swiss astronaut who teaches a course on space engineering at EPFL, is supervising analog astronauts undergoing several training sessions in preparation for the mission.
An extreme environment training in the Swiss Alps supervised by the famous explorer and adventurer Alban Michon is scheduled to take place in February.
The Asclepios II will be the subject of a 1 hour 30 minutes documentary by the Swiss Radio and Television (RTS) which will be broadcast after the mission in summer 2022.
The Asclepios I mission was conducted in July 2021 to study the techniques of filtration of the grounds, the creation of bioplastics, and the installation of means of communication with long-range, essential to communicate with the control center installed in Guttannen (BE). 16 other participants coordinated in the mission and studied the socio-psychological behaviors of their companions.
Bennani said: “We, as future engineers and scientists, have the responsibility to always reach for the stars, to seek to inspire the younger generations, and try to push scientific research beyond its limits.”
