Vladimir Pletser - Travels and Field Expeditions

FIELD EXPEDITIONS

Diving expeditions

Pletser participated in several international diving expeditions in the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South China, Red Sea, North Sea, ..., namely:

- the Scilly isles expedition, in the United Kingdom, twice with the European Space Agency Research and Technology Centre (ESA-ESTEC) Diving Club in 1997 and 1999;

- the Dahab Blue Hole exploration in the Red Sea, Egypt, with the Technical Diving International team in 2004;

- the survey expedition of the 1770's Button wreck at the Key Largo Marine Research Laboratory and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), with the Anglo-Danish Maritime Archaeological Team (ADMAT) in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in Florida, USA in 2005;

- the Cozumel land cave (cenotes) and sea exploration, in Yucatan, Mexico, with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2008;

- the Shark number assessment expedition, during the Shark week 2009, organized by the Micronesia Shark Foundation, in Palau, Pacific Ocean, with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2009;

- the Giant Manta Ray expedition, in Yap, Pacific Ocean, with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2009;

- the Shark Explorers Sardine Run expedition in Port St Johns, South Africa, Indian Ocean, with a National Geographic filming crew in 2011;

- the Tasik Ria and Lembeh straight expedition in North Sulawesi, Indonesia with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2011;

- the Galapagos Islands expedition in Ecuador, Pacific Ocean, on board the M/V Galapagos Sky with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2012;

- the Far North Exploratory Diving expedition, Arctic Ocean, on board the M/V Ortelius with The Netherlands Eigen-Wijze-Duik Reizen (Own Wise Diving Travel) organization in.2013; he opened 7 new dive sites in Svalbard and the Greenland East Coast during exploratory dives, having a new dive site named after him for his 300th dive;

- the Raja Ampat Islands expedition on board the KLM Lambo vessel, in West Papua, Indonesia with the Gili Pirates organization in 2014;

- the Maldives diving expedition with the ESA-ESTEC Diving Club in 2014;

- the Antarctica Exploratory Diving Expedition, on board the M/V Plancius with The Netherlands Eigen-Wijze-Duik Reizen organization and Cool Expedition, in 2016;

- the Komodo Islands expedition on board the KLM Lambo vessel, in Indonesia with the Gili Pirates organization in 2016;

- the Raja Ampat expedition on board the KM Samambaia vessel, in West Papua, Indonesia with Belgian divers in 2019;

- the Saudi dive centre assessment in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, assessment with Jacobs and Blue Abyss for the Saudi Space Agency in 2023;

- the Bali-Lombok diving expedition on board the Insurmountable vessel, in Indonesia with the Gili Pirates organization in 2023.

He logged 455 dives in various other locations, including Tanganyika Lake in Burundi, Tahoe Lake in California, high-altitude mountain lakes in Austria and France, Okinawa in Japan, etc.

Pletser preparing for an ice dive in a mountain lake in Austria during the winter of 2013.

Map of the journey from Ushuaia to the Detaille Island along the Antarctic Peninsula coast in 2016.

He participated in 1993 in the 24h underwater challenge against cancer with five other divers at the Euro Space Center, Redu, Belgium.

Before becoming a diver, he snorkel dived since 1980, with dives down to 15 m, in Mombasa, Kenya; Cancun in Yucatan, Mexico; and Curacao, Caribbean Islands.

Trekking and hill-climbing expeditions

Enjoying hill-walking and having also a keen interest in geophysics and volcanology, Pletser participated in several private expeditions.

In 1984, he ascended the Nyiragongo volcano (3470 m), in the province of North-Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (called Zaire at that time), with an overnight stay in a tent with other participants.

In 1986, he took part in a trek in the Himalayas, Nepal, to the Everest Base Camp, followed by the ascent of the Kala-Patar Mountain (5545 m). He spent 10 days sleeping in a tent with the coldest night at -25 °C.

In 1988, he ascended within 24 hours the three largest Mayan pyramids Uxmal, Chichen-Itza, Coba in Yucatan, Mexico.

He trekked in the Wulingyuan mountains in Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province in China in 2016; and the Blue Mountains in Sydney, Australia in 2017.

He took part in a rogaining session at high altitude (above 2000 m) around Lake Tahoe in California, USA, as part of the AdvancingX Astronaut training in 2022.

He further visited, and in some cases ascended, 12 active and extinct volcanoes:

- La Soufrière (1467 m) in San Lucia, Caribbean Islands in 1992;

- San Antonio (1700 m, ascent), Roque Los Muchachos (2426 m) in La Palma, Canaries Islands, Spain in 1993;

- Puy de Dôme (1465 m) in France in 1994;

- Timanfaya (540 m) in Lanzarote, Canaries Islands, Spain in 1995;

- Kameni (114 m), in Santorini, Greece in 1996;

- Etna (3323 m, ascent) and Vulcano (500 m) in Italy in 1998;

- Patmos (269 m) in Greece in 2000;

- Vesuvio (1281 m, ascent) in Italy in 2002;

- Mahawu (1324 m, ascent) in North Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2011;

- Cotopaxi (5897 m) in Ecuador in 2012.

Polar expeditions

Pletser participated in three Arctic expeditions. The first one was on the Spitsbergen Island in Norway in 1995 with the International Astronautical Federation. The second was on Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada in 2001 with The Mars Society and in collaboration with the NASA Haughton Mars Project. The third expedition was a diving expedition in 2013 in Svalbard and along the Greenland East coast (see above).

He participated also in an Antarctic expedition in 2016, with exploratory dives along the coast of the Antarctic peninsula and visiting several Antarctic outposts of the British Antarctic Survey, Argentina, and Ukraine.

Sea and river expeditions

Pletser participated in several sea expeditions. These were, in chronological order, a sailing trip in the Mediterranean Sea around Corsica for two weeks non-stop on a Gin-Fizz sailboat with a crew of eight in 1979; in the Atlantic Ocean by pirogue along the coasts of Senegal and Gambia, joining Toubacouta to Casamance in Senegal in 2009.

He participated in seven boat expeditions for diving (see above).

The first was in the Pacific Ocean, from Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and back on the M/V Galapagos Sky in 2012.

The second in the Arctic Ocean, from Longyearbyen, in Svalbard, to the 80-degree Norh latitude mark turning South along the coast of Greenland and to Iceland. on the M/V Ortelius in 2013.

The third was an exploratory dive expedition of the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia, on the KLM Lambo vessel in 2014.

The fourth was an expedition journey from Ushuaia, in Patagonia Argentina, through the Beagle Channel, crossing the Drake Passage, to reach the South Shetland Islands and the Gerlache Straight along the coast of the Antarctic peninsula to the Detaille Island, and back, on the M/V Plancius in 2016.

The fifth was to explore the Komodo Islands in Indonesia on the KLM Lambo vessel in 2016.

The sixth was a second expedition of the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia, on the KM Samambaia vessel in 2019.

The seventh was an expedition between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia to visit Lembongan, Lombok, Gili Asahan, Gili Air, and Bali Amed, on the Typhoon boat in 2023.

He further participated in river expeditions on the Congo River in Kinshasa in the R.D. Congo in 1983 and in 2019, canyoning in the Sierra Guara in the Spanish Pyrenees in 2000, a Louxor-Assouan Nile cruise in 2004, rafting on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe in 2005, on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam in 2009, on the Rio Napo in the Ecuadorian Amazonian jungle in 2012, on the Lijiang River in Guilin in Guangxi Province in China in 2017, on the Lualaba River in Kindu in the Maniema Province of the R.D. Congo in 2018, and several descents in canoe-kayaking of the Lesse River in Belgium.

Desert and jungle expeditions

Pletser participated in desert expeditions in the Algerian Sahara by car in 1970, the Utah Desert on quads in 2002 and 2009, the Egyptian Sinai in 2004 by jeep, and the Wadi Rum in Jordan in 2007.

He traveled through and lived in the Amazonian jungle in Cuyabeno in Ecuador in 2012.

He participated in African bush expeditions by car or jeep in Mayombe in R.D. Congo in 1972 and 1983, in the Kruger Park in South Africa in 1977 and 2005, in the Game Reserve Parks in Kenya in 1981, in Burundi in 1993, around Toubacouta and in Casamance in Senegal in 2009, and from Goma to Rumangabo in the Virunga Park in R.D. Congo in 2015.

He participated also in motorbike expeditions during several tours of Mayombe and Bandundu in R.D. Congo in 1983, a tour of Rwanda and Kivu in R.D. Congo in 1984, and from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire in Congo in 1985.

TRAVELS

Although born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, until 1982, Pletser lived in Kinshasa, R.D. Congo for three years (1982-85), then in the Netherlands for 30 years (1985-2016), then in Beijing, China, for two years (2016-18). His home is now in Portugal but he shares his time between Belgium and England to visit family and friends.

Born in a traveling family, he traveled around the world in many countries for work, for sport (rugby touring, diving, skiing), for lecturing as an invited Visiting Professor, to attend conferences, or for holidays.

Here is a non-exhaustive list in chronological order.

1970 Algiers, Atlas and Sahara, Algeria (car tour)

1972 Kinshasa and Mayombe, Zaire (car tour)

1974 Ireland (hitch-hike tour)

1976 Algiers, Algeria (visit)

1977 Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Pretoria, South Africa (rugby bus tour)

1978 Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, San Miguel de Tucuman, Salta, Argentina (rugby bus tour)

1979 Corsica (sailing)

1980 Los Angeles, Pasadena, Hollywood, California, USA (rugby tour)

1981 Nairobi, Mombasa, Mount Kenya, Kenya (rugby bus tour)

1982 Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Canada (rugby train tour)

1983 Kinshasa, Mayombe, Zaire (car and motorbike tours); Greece (holidays) 1984 Rwanda and Kivu, Zaire (motorbike tour)

1985 Congo-Brazzaville (motorbike tour); Denver, Boulder (rugby tour), Aspen (ski), Colorado, USA

1986 Houston, Texas, USA (NASA parabolic flights); Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Antalya, Izmir, Turkey (local buses tour); Kathmandu and Himalaya trek, Nepal (honeymoon trip)

1987 Houston, Texas (NASA parabolic flights); Louisiana, Florida, USA (car tour)

1988 Houston, Texas, USA (NASA parabolic flights); Cancun, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (car tour)

1989 Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1990 Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights); Curacao (car tour); New York and Connecticut, USA (car tour);

1991 Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1992 Houston, Texas (NASA parabolic flights), Florida, USA (car tour); Saint-Lucie, Caribbean (diving); Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1993 Burundi (car tour); La Palma Island, Canaries, Spain (holidays); Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1994 South-West of France (car tour); Bretigny, France (ESA parabolic flights); Berlin, Germany (ESA parabolic flights)

1995 Houston and Eastern Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Muncie, Indianapolis, Indiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo, Niagara Falls, New York State; Princeton, New Jersey (NASA Spacelab LMS Astronaut training); Cleveland, Ohio, USA (NASA parabolic flights); Lanzarote Island, Canaries, Spain (holidays); Spitzbergen Island, Norway (International Astronautical Federation tour)

1996 Huntsville and surroundings, Alabama, USA (NASA Spacelab mission); Crete, Greece (holidays)

1997 French Alps (ski); Florida (NASA Shuttle launch); Bonaire, Caribbean (diving); Scilly isles, United Kingdom (diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1998 French Alps (ski); Granada, Spain (conference); Sicily, Italy (holidays); Florida and Houston, Texas, USA (NASA Spacehab mission preparation); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

1999 French Alps (ski); Scilly Isles, UK (diving); Goteborg area, Sweden (Ariane cross); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2000 French Alps (ski); North-West Coast Florida (car tour); Samos and Patmos Islands, Greece (holidays); Sierra Guara, Pyrenean Mountains, Spain (canyoning); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2001 Andorra (ski); Edmonton, Yellowknife, Resolute, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic (Mars Simulation); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2002 Salt Lake City, Hanksville, Utah, USA (Mars Simulation); Athens, Peloponnese, Ithaque, Greece (conference); Houston, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; USA (NASA ISS mission preparation); Moscow, Russia; Baikonur, Kazakhstan (ISS mission); Majorca, Spain (diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2003 French Alps (ski); Thessaloniki, Greece (conference); Lesbos, Greece (holidays); Bordeaux and Medoc, France (ESA Parabolic Flights); Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, NW Arizona, SW California, Los Angeles, USA (car tour); Majorca, Spain (diving); Malta (conference); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2004 French Alps (ski, 2x); Louxor, Assouan, Cairo, Egypt (holidays); Sinai Desert and Red Sea, Egypt (dive training); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights); Kirchberg, Austria (Demo parabolic flights)

2005 South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe (car tour); Florida Keys (archaeology dive training); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2006 Samara, Russia (ISS mission preparation); Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, India (car tour); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2007 Davos, Switzerland (ski); Samara, Russia (ISS mission preparation); Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum Desert, Aqaba, Dead Sea, Jordan (car tour); Moscow, Samara, Russia; Baikonur, Kazakhstan (Foton mission flight operations); Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo, Tsukuba, Japan (conference); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights), Alpe d’Huez, France (ski)

2008 Marrakech, Morocco (holidays); Tallinn, Estonia (holidays); Cozumel, Mexico (diving); Val Thorens, France (ski); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2009 Toubacouta, Casamance, Dakar, Senegal (car and boat tour); Salt Lake City, Hanksville, Utah, USA (Mars Simulation); Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Saigon, Mekong Delta, Vietnam (car and boat tour); Palau, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia (diving); Guam, USA (diving); Manila, Philippines; Majorca, Spain (diving); Corfu (holidays); Seoul, Daejeon, Gyeongju, South Korea (International Astronautical Federation tour); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2010 Singapore; Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia (holidays); Tignes, France (ski and ice diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2011 Montreal, Ottawa, Canada (CSA parabolic flights); Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, South Africa (diving); Manado, Tasik Ria, Lembeh, North Sulawesi, Indonesia (diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2012 Kitzbuhel, Austria (ski); Galapagos Islands (diving), Quito, Cuyabeno (Amazon expedition), Ecuador; Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2013 Kitzbuhel, Austria (ski, ice diving); Svalbard, Norway, Groenland East coast, Iceland (Arctic diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2014 Raja Ampat, Sulawesi, Indonesia (diving); Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Visiting Professor); Maldives (diving); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights)

2015 Hong-Kong, Macao (holidays); Beijing, China (Visiting Professor); Kinshasa, Kindu, Goma, Rumangabo in Virunga Park, R.D. Congo (Visiting Professor); Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights); Zurich, Switzerland (UZH parabolic flights)

2016 Bordeaux, France (ESA parabolic flights); Patagonia, Ushuaia, Argentina (trek tour); Antarctica (diving); Gili Islands, Komodo Islands, Indonesia (diving); Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel (Visiting Professor); Megidd0, Israel (ISU glider parabolic flights); Beijing, Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province (trek tour) and Xian, Shaanxi Province (tour), China; Okinawa, Japan (diving)

2017 Thyon, Switzerland (ski); Yangshuo and Guilin, Guangxi Province (tour); Pingyao, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province (tour); Yantai, Shandong Province (conference); Shenzhen, Guangdong Province (tour); Shanghai, China (tour); Adelaide, Sydney, Australia, (International Astronautical Federation tour)

2018 French Alps (ski); Thyon, Switzerland (ski); Singapore; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Kinshasa, Kindu, Maniema, R.D. Congo (Visiting Professor); Algarve, Lisbon, Azeitao, Setubal, Portugal (tour); Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Business meeting)

2019 Singapore; Raja Ampat, Papua-Asia, Indonesia (diving); Kinshasa, Kindu, Maniema, R.D. Congo (Visiting Professor); Shanghai, China (conference); Mid-West, Texas, USA (Business meeting)

2020 Thyon, Switzerland (ski)

2021 Thyon, Switzerland (ski); Dubai, United Arab Emirates (World Expo 2020, conference);

2022 Dublin, Ireland (holidays); Thyon, Switzerland (ski); Bologna, Emilie-Romagna, Italy (ESA mission); Reno, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, California, USA (Astronaut training); Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Business meeting); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Business meeting); Les Deux Alpes, France (ski)

2023 Thyon, Switzerland (ski); Riyadh (5x), Jeddah, Saud Arabia (Business meeting); Melbourne, NASA-Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA (Yuri’s night); Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA (conference); Tucson, Biosphere 2, Arizona, USA (conference); Chicago, Toronto, Canada; Lembogan, Lombok, Gili Asahan, Gili Air, Bali Amed, Indonesia (diving)

2024 Beijing, China (conference); Thyon, Switzerland (ski, 2x); Washington, Boston, USA (conference); Milan, Italy (conference); Madeira, Douro valley, Portugal

2025 Thyon, Switzerland (ski, 2x); Cleveland, Ohio, USA (conference)