News

The EXPLORE-2 mission has come to an end! For six days, nine young students successfully played the role of analog astronauts in a specially designed habitat to simulate Mars, at the Alqueva Lake Observatory, Monsaraz.

Students from three Portuguese schools are preparing for the next EXPLORE Mission, EXPLORE-2, which will run from 13 to 19 April 2026, in Monsaraz.

On March 14 and 15, high school students from Austria, Greece, and Portugal participated in an intensive training offered by the Austrian Space Forum in preparation for the EXPLORE 2 mission.

EXPLORE was presented to high school students in Innsbruck, Austria.

During the Public Outreach and Education Weekend of the 6th COSPAR Symposium, in Cyprus, EXPLORE was presented to an international group of teachers, students, planetarium staff and researchers.

On 25 October, NUCLIO introduced 53 Portuguese teachers to the EXPLORE project during an interactive, hands-on workshop that took place during the Science on Stage Portugal 2025 Festival

EXPLORE was presented by NUCLIO, to a group of Brazilian teachers and university students, during Space Week Nordeste 2025.

At this year’s Summer School, held in Marathon, Greece, 6-11 July, participating teachers were able to meet an analog astronaut from the EXPLORE-1 mission, Nestoras.

The EXPLORE-1 analogue astronauts were recruited as ambassadors of the EXPLORE project for the European Researchers’ Night 2025 events, held in Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece, and Oeiras, Portugal.

After months of preparation, our nine analog astronauts (AA), from Austria, Greece and Portugal, stepped out of their normal everyday lives into an extraordinary adventure: undertaking a five-day mission in a simulated Mars environment in the Portuguese region of Alentejo!