Swiss kids suit up for 'Mission to Mars'

While the world has been riveted by the escapades of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, a group of Swiss primary school children has been eagerly preparing their own mission to the red planet.

Some of Switzerland's top space experts, including the country's only astronaut, Claude Nicollier, evaluated the detailed mission plan the children had developed over nine months. And on March 8, they gave it the all-clear for lift-off.

Their rocket is actually a bus, with images of astronauts astride a spaceship heading towards a bright red sphere covering the windows, flanked by the message: "Mission Vivalys. Direction Mars".

Their destination? A Mars space station conveniently situated a bus-ride away in a secluded wooded area on the outskirts of Lausanne in western Switzerland.

Here, the 16 eight- and nine-year-olds will spend three days carrying out experiments similar to some conducted by actual astronauts, including attempting to grow plants to sustain them on the long journey. And while the idyllic, snow-sprinkled surroundings are far less hostile than the windswept, dusty surface of Mars, the children wear suits and helmets whenever they step outside.

Inside the base, with his helmet -- actually a face-covering scuba-diving mask -- under his arm, Leo says this "analogue mission to Mars" made him all the more eager to see the real thing.

In a bid to simulate a true space mission, all the children's meals consist of freeze-dried space food. Initial plans for them to sleep on site were meanwhile scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the months of preparation, the children participated in workshops on astronomy and rocket engineering hosted by students at the neighbouring EPFL -- among the most prestigious technical universities in Europe. The mission required them to use mathematics to calculate the distance to Mars, and they have also sharpened their language skills, learning how to spell the names of the planets.

The first experiment the team embarks upon after arriving at the space station is launching home-made paper rockets into space. The children get to work rolling sheets of paper into tubes, before adding pointed paper tips and fins.