Piccard and Cousteau explored the oceans’ deepest fathoms, the astronauts punch through the Earth’s atmosphere and into infinite space. Possessed with the same spirit, I wish to take you on a breathtaking visual odyssey far beyond the reach of the naked eye. For a “spaceship”, I use a scanning electron microscope. Join me in my journey into the unknown. We land in lunar landscapes on the back of an ant, explore secret valleys on a sea ursin spine, cross mountains made of pollen, discover strange cities on microscopic continents, or take shelter in plancton nanocaves.
France Bourély has been dubbed a “micronaut” by NASA astronauts in 1994. Her image of the pores of a gnat’s abdomen was brought in space in 1996 by astronaut, Mike Lopez-Alegria, to fly 216 times around the world aboard the space shuttle Columbia. Mike L-A, test pilot, holder of many NASA records, also commanded the crew dragon capsule of Axiom-1 mission, launched towards the International space station by falcon 9 of Space X: He commanded Axiom-3 and is now chief astronaut officer of Axiom space.
