Conference - Habitats en milieux extrèmes

Underwater or in space

Today, small teams of astronauts live for long periods in low-Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. Tomorrow, with the Artemis moon-return program or the Gateway station project, they will have to adapt to similar living conditions, but at a distance of almost 400.000 km from the Earth; the day after tomorrow, the hypothesis of manned missions to Mars assumes that a small human community can sustainably live for months, or even 2-3 years, in total autonomy. What do we know about the ability of such a community to adapt to these living conditions? What experience do we have today with these issues, whether in space (International Space Station), on Earth (simulations on "analog sites", polar stations), or... under the sea (life aboard an SNLE under long-duration immersion)?

The experts

This round table will address these questions by comparing the visions of three experts: the experience of a human community living aboard a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SNLE), with Admiral Pierre-François Forissier, former Navy Chief of Staff and submarine commander; the experience of an astronaut, Michel Tognini; and the viewpoint of an engineer specializing in habitats in extreme conditions, Peter Weiss, founder of Spartan Space. Also taking part in the round table will be Célia Batonon, a student engineer at the Ecole des Mines d'Alès, specializing in space physiology.