From France To The Moon: Rocket Simulator Opens In Toulouse

The Cité de l'Espace centre is offering visitors the experience of space travel in a rocket and moon lander simulator.

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In Toulouse, France, the Cité de l'Espace is launching a new immersive experience: Lune Xplorer, where you can take a seat in a rocket simulator. 

You can climb aboard a spaceship similar to the one that will soon take man back to the Moon.

Every detail is realistic, including the number of passengers: four per capsule. The simulator is in fact a centrifuge that reproduces all the effects of acceleration.

"We were really caught up, glued to the seat... As soon as we moved our heads we really lost north and south, but it was really cool," said one visitor.

Veteran astronauts and NASA staff are on hand to brief the tourist space crews. They say it's a true-to-life experience.

"What's amazing is that the accelerations and decelerations we put you through are real. It's like being in a real rocket," explained NASA veteran Jean-François Clervo.

The attraction has opened amid a flurry of new unmanned space missions to the moon. NASA aims to return people to the lunar surface in 2026.

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