Since 2008, crews composed by PhD, Masters and Bachelor students from the “Université catholique de Louvain” have participated in the program of Mars-life simulation based at the Mars Desert Research Station, in the Utah desert. The station offers a scientific infrastructure following the specific-set of restrictions found in a Martian environment: confined spaces, space suits expeditions, small labs, limited resources, freeze-dried food…

This year, the crew is composed of 8 people coming from different faculties of engineering and sciences. They have planned to perform experiments in view to prepare a future Mars expedition.
This research program, supported by NASA, is developed by the Mars Society, an American association which aims to promote Mars exploration and colonization by governmental institutions and the general public.