Organization and Purpose of Mars Analog Missions

Jérémy Rabineau is a French student-engineer that has just finished a two-week simulation of life on Mars at the Mars Desert Research Station in
Utah, USA. This simulation is just an example of the growing number of Mars analog missions that are performed all over the world (MARS500, HI-SEAS, etc.).
Why do such simulations exist? How are they organized? And what is their practical application for the future of manned space exploration?
He will attempt to answer these questions while talking about his personal experience as an "Analog Astronaut": confinement, delay in the
communications, extra-vehicular activities, re-hydrated food, scientific research and technological experiments. This may also be a good
opportunity to explain how to apply and take part in such simulations, for people that would be interested.