500 years later, Magellan still inspires explorers of the 21st century

In this file photo taken on October 12, 2004 a replica model of Portuguese explorer.

Admired for his courage and determination, the Portuguese navigator Fernand de Magellan continues to inspire explorers of the cosmos and oceans who, 500 years after the first planetary circumnavigation, see it as a symbol of the quest for knowledge.

"Magellan is still an inspiration 500 years later because it is a pioneer of a time when the navigators who left in the emptiness had a big tendency not to return", told AFP the French Fabien Cousteau, filmmaker and ocean explorer like his grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.