” Have a good trip ! » The invitation, launched in a cheerful and relaxed tone by the hostess, prepares rather poorly for what follows. Better to trust his insistence on checking that your fanny pack or your handbag are securely tucked under the seat and that no cell phone is lying around in the open. Because when the Space City from Toulouse promises you the Moon, at least the journey that leads there, she is not exaggerating. You absorb 2 Gs, twice your weight, or even 3 Gs, and you remain glued to your seat, trying in vain to raise your arm to press the flashing green button on the console.
This is the LuneXplorer effect, a giant centrifuge, whose ten modules, cozy at first glance, can each accommodate four passengers on their way to the night star. The equipment – which cost 16 million euros, requiring the construction of a new building (in place of the Terradome for regulars) – is by far the most spectacular ever put into service by the science park. The latter refuses to talk about “attraction” but the thrill parks can go and get dressed. “What is proposed is quite simply a world first,” underlines Jean-Claude Dardelet, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of Space. Adrenaline is guaranteed but with this big extra soul specific to the place which consists of deciphering space news and bombarding visitors with knowledge. There is no question of entering LuneXplorer without having reviewed, in a fun way, its Apollo missions, without having swept away the work of Cnes to inhabit the Moon as training to reach Mars and therefore without having updated one’s knowledge on the Artemis program which predicts within a year, the probable moon landing of the first female astronaut.
Global class instructors
Adventure is also great for self-esteem. Since the briefing before boarding is provided, sorry, by the only three European astronauts who can entertain the hope of actually making the trip in the short term: Thomas Pesquet, the Italian Samantha Cristoforetti and the German Matthias Maurer. Of course, the instructors recorded the instructions from the European Space Agency (ESA) training center in Cologne, but they play the game. What’s more, without bragging, you complete a journey in five minutes that will take them four days, without having to put on a diving suit and without going through the weightlessness box.
The LuneXplorer will open to the public on Tuesday, November 14. You will have to be over 1.30 m tall to try it and it will be forbidden for people with heart problems or pregnant women. After having tested it, we cannot recommend enough that you have a frugal meal or breakfast before venturing there. And to wait in the cafeteria or the shop while waiting for your family to return from the Moon if you already have difficulty taking off by plane.
If you board and your hands weigh a ton, you can always try steering with your feet. Astronaut Jean-François Clervoy, who knows his way around centrifuges, also advises not to move your head too much and to observe the Earth upside down, since you will be landing on the South Pole of the Moon. Well, that’s if you have time to think. And, frankly, the moon landing, even on the edge of a crater, is a piece of cake.