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Could Israelis head to Mars? Astronauts meet with President Herzog

“We felt as if we were on Mars, and on many occasions the mission has such an immersive effect that you can really believe it for a few moments.”

By World Israel News Staff

Two Israeli analog astronauts of the AMADEE-20 Mars Simulation, who just completed an intensive three-week mission in the Ramon Crater in the Negev that was meant to simulate a mission to Mars, met Tuesday with President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog in their home.

The AMADEE-20 Mars Simulation was run by the Israel Space Agency and the Austrian Space Forum in collaboration with D-MARS. Six astronauts, each from a different country, inhabited a purpose-built “space station” in the Ramon Crater, selected because of its similarity to the surface of Mars. During the three week period, in which they were isolated from the rest of humanity, they performed a series of scientific and technological experiments, mirroring tasks planned for future human missions to Mars.

“We felt as if we were on Mars, and on many occasions the mission has such an immersive effect that you can really believe it for a few moments,” said analog astronaut Alon Tenzer.

Israel Space Agency director Uri Oron, Austrian Space Forum director Dr. Gernot Grömer, Austrian Ambassador Hannah Liko and D-MARS CEO Dr. Hillel Rubinstein also visited with the president on Tuesday, as did children studying with the Tevel satellite-building program and AMADEE-20.

The astronauts showed the president their suits and the president was given demonstrations of other advanced Israeli-made space technologies.

“You are making history,” Herzog said. “If there is something that unites humanity, it’s the future life of the universe and the life of the human species. It is fascinating in all aspects.”