Patrick Hill

At 2:56am UK time on July 21, 1969, the world held its breath in front of grainy pictures on black and white TVs. Then Neil Armstrong descended from the Eagle spacecraft and made “one small step for man – one giant leap for mankind” as he became the first person to set foot on the moon.

Since that historic Apollo moment 50 years ago in the Sea of Tranquility, 11 more men – including one who inspired the name of a Toy Story Space Ranger – have stepped onto the lunar surface.

But despite the invention of technology that could barely have even been considered at the time, putting a human on Mars has remained impossible. Until now.

My girlfriend and I “travelled” to the Red Planet – via a nine-hour flight from Gatwick Airport to Orlando, followed by a one-hour drive to NASA’s world-famous John F Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

We were taking part in an all-new Astronaut Training Experience. Using simulators and interactive games, the unique full-day attraction gives wannabe spacemen and women, aged 10 and up, the chance to travel through the Mars Transporter Vehicle, walk on the planet

11 EXPERIENCE Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, above, Patrick with Jerry L Ross

using virtual reality technology and even feel what it would be like to experience zero gravity.

Space cadets also get to carry out authentic NASA science and engineering jobs, manage the Base Operations Center, grow and harvest plants in the botany lab, and collect and analyse data to be sent back to Earth (see story on right).

Thankfully, you don’t get to experience the savagery of the Red Planet as shown