LEBANON - Lebanese national Fadi Kanaan has been selected as one of nine participants in Asclepios VII, an international, student-led space mission simulation scheduled for summer 2027 in Switzerland.
Kanaan, a graduate of the American University of Beirut (AUB), is the first Lebanese person selected for the Asclepios program and the only Arab among the nine participants chosen from approximately 400 applicants worldwide, according to AUB.
The mission will simulate aspects of a space expedition in an isolated environment on Earth, allowing participants to experience operational and psychological challenges associated with space exploration without traveling into space.
A Competitive Selection Process
The selection process assessed candidates’ academic and technical knowledge, physical endurance, problem-solving skills and ability to work under pressure.
According to AUB, candidates completed a supervised examination lasting approximately six hours, covering scientific subjects, spaceflight knowledge, and cognitive endurance. Those who passed were invited to an in-person assessment at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).
The assessment included overnight endurance exercises, long-distance hiking, tasks requiring teamwork and reasoning under physical exhaustion, and search-and-rescue exercises in water. Candidates also faced challenges involving limited communication and incomplete information.
Kanaan was subsequently interviewed by Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier, who flew on four Space Shuttle missions between 1992 and 1999, as part of the final selection stage.
Training Ahead of the Mission
Kanaan will undergo approximately a year of training and preparation before the simulated mission. The program is expected to include weekly training sessions, integration exercises, preparation for extreme environments, firefighting training, a mission rehearsal and zero-gravity flight training.
The training will prepare the selected crew to operate together in an isolated setting, where participants will carry out activities designed to replicate aspects of a space mission. The Asclepios VII isolation mission is scheduled for summer 2027 at Sasso San Gottardo in the Swiss Alps.
A Multidisciplinary Background
Kanaan graduated from AUB in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He later earned a master's degree in security and crime science from University College London and worked with organizations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and INTERPOL's Cyberspace and New Technologies Lab.
He is currently co-founder and chief operating officer of N-AI, an artificial intelligence startup developing computer vision and machine-learning solutions for public-sector and enterprise applications in the United Kingdom and the Middle East and North Africa.
His selection brings together his multidisciplinary background and an opportunity to participate in an international initiative focused on space exploration research and training.
Asclepios was established in 2019 as a student-led initiative associated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. It organizes simulated missions to destinations such as the Moon and Mars, using Earth-based environments to recreate selected physical, psychological and operational conditions of space travel.
The program's seventh mission will allow Kanaan to represent Lebanon and AUB in an international crew preparing to test the challenges of working in an environment designed to simulate a mission beyond Earth
