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Réunion Attracts International Space Community

http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/64302.htm

This is because the town of Sainte-Rose covering most of the volcanic massif of the famous Piton de la Fournaise harbors an 'Analog Site' that has been recognized by the international space community. In other words, the site has several similarities with lunar and Martian conditions. The 7-kilometer high Piton de la Fournaise 'shield volcano' has many similarities with the huge volcanoes covering part of the planet Mars. On the slopes of the Réunion volcano, there are numerous lava tunnels similar to the recently discovered tunnels in the volcanic zones on the Moon's surface. For the scientists preparing a manned trip to the Moon forty years after the Apollo missions, it is the ideal spot for conducting the intermediate validation of the geological exploration instruments and procedures that will be used by future Moon and Mars explorers in their environmentally friendly scientific work on the two celestial bodies.

Admittedly, Réunion is not the only place in the world with an Analog Site. Such sites for operational simulations already exist in Antarctica, on Devon Island north of Canada, or at the MDRS research center in the Utah desert, USA. New sites are also under development on the Hawaii islands, USA. However, Réunion's asset is that it provides the same opportunities in a European framework. Accordingly, early this year Dr. Bernard Foing, Director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) and Bruno Mamindy-Pajany, the mayor of Sainte-Rose began discussions to open a new Analog Site for the international community of Moon and Mars explorers, on town land.

A mission was recently tasked to attend in the Global LUnar Conference (GLUC) in Beijing, China, from May 31 to June 5 this year, organized by the International Astronautical Federation and the Chinese Society of Astronautics. The mission was to the community of future users of the Moon Mars Analog Site (SALM) in Sainte-Rose and sign a cooperation agreement with ILEWG. The mission, headed by the Mayor of Sainte-Rose accompanied by SALM Scientific Advisor Guy Pignolet, met the main stakeholders in the field and the 150 international delegates who attended the Conference. After a short presentation, the Sainte-Rose delegation was invited to attend a meeting at the ILEWG office, during which the international organization approved the draft Agreement with the Sainte-Rose municipality. The high point of the event was the announcement of the opening of the Sainte-Rose SALM, which should be operational by the end of 2010, to the entire community of lunar and Martian researchers at the GLUC plenary session. Then, the Cooperation Agreement materializing the opening was signed by Bernard Foing and Bruno Mamindy-Pajany. The first international test campaigns are scheduled to begin in 2011.

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SALM - Guy Pignolet, Scientific Advisor - Phone: + 33(0)6 92 15 95 77 - email : guy.pignolet@science-sainte-rose.net - http://www.science-sainte-rose.net/salm

Code brève
ADIT : 64302

ADIT - Jean-François Desessard - email: jfd@adit.fr

eTech France numéro 245 (2/09/2010) - ADIT / ADIT - http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/64302.htm