Original title : Colomb Béchar, porte du ciel
Although the name Colomb Béchar conjures up images of a sun-drenched city in the sands, anyone visiting for the first time is immediately caught by the fresh spell of this oasis, whose contrast with the nearby desert seems so immense that it perpetually renews the idea of a miracle. In ten years, the town’s population has quadrupled thanks to coal mining. The area around Colomb Béchar is also home to the “Centre Interarmées d’Engins Spéciaux”, which has unlimited scope for research. It is equipped with extensive remote control and radar observation equipment, which enables the rockets to be directed and controlled before being recovered. Rockets take off in a lunar setting reminiscent of science fiction novels.