The Cité de l’espace in Toulouse has spared no expense in promising its visitors the moon. The new attraction called LuneXplorer, built in a new building instead of the old Terradome, promises astronaut-like thrills. Four sequences await the curious. The first, in the reception hall surrounded by spacesuits and models of launch vehicles, is intended to immerse you in the Apollo, Artemis and NASA missions. The participants are then divided into teams of four under video instructions from the three astronauts from the European Space Agency (Esa), Thomas Pesquet, Matthias Maurer and Samantha Cristoforetti. Then it’s time to take a seat in one of the ten space capsules, the highlight of the attraction.
Following the same principle as the centrifuge that astronauts use for their training, this experience allows you to feel the pressure of the launch in two minutes, with an acceleration of 2G, with the body pressed against the seat because you feel it is twice as heavy and brakes backwards and finally the moon landing, all in a few minutes. “For the first time the public can experience hypergravity,” promises Jean-François Clervoy, astronaut and honorary president of the Cité de l’espace. “You will feel the same impressions that astronauts feel in their spacecraft.” » The LuneXplorer, which lasts forty minutes in total, then ends with a debriefing phase. “This is a multisensory and immersive experience unique in the world,” assures Jean-Claude Dardelet, president of Semeccel, the operating company of the Cité de l’espace.
More than 500,000 visitors per year
It took two years to design this equipment, a time for reflection even in the midst of Covid-19, and to put together a budget of sixteen million euros. Toulouse Métropole is the leading financier (55%), followed by European funds under the economic recovery plan (34%), the Cité de l’espace (6%) and the Occitanie region (5%). LuneXplorer will be open to the public starting Tuesday, November 14th. LuneXplorer’s further mission is to attract visitors and attract more than 500,000 people per year.
Audrey Sommazi
In the photo: Jean-Baptise Desbois, the general director of Semeccel, the operating company of the Cité de l’espace, and Jean-François Clervoy, astronaut and honorary president of the Cité de l’espace.
In the photo: Photo credit: Rémy Gabalda – ToulÉco.