After taking this short course, the participant will have a professional working knowledge and understanding of Mars and of its exploration history, present programs, and future opportunities. Professionals in space and related fields, students interested in aerospace engineering, robotics, space missions, astronomy, astrophysics, earth and planetary sciences, will acquire through this course a solid foundation in state-of-the-art martian science and exploration.

Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the Mars Institute, the SETI Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He is also a professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University. Pascal Lee studied physics and geology at the University of Paris, and obtained his PhD in astronomy and space sciences at Cornell University.

Dr. Lee’s research focuses on the Moon and Mars. He is internationally known for his work on the history of water on Mars – in particular for proposing the “Mars Always Cold” model of Mars climate evolution -, the study of ice and caves on the Moon, the origin of Mars’ moons, and planning the future human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Dr Lee has worked on several advancements in strategies and technologies for future Moon and Mars exploration, including habitats, rovers, aircraft, hoppers, drills, and spacesuits. Dr. Lee has led over 30 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica to study the Moon and Mars by comparison with the Earth. In 1988, he wintered over for 402 days in Antarctica at Dumont d’Urville Station in Adélie Land. Dr Lee is also founder and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP), the world’s leading planetary analog field research project on Devon Island in the High Arctic. As part of the HMP, he led the historic Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a record-setting multi-vehicular expedition on sea-ice and the subject of the award-winning documentary motion picture film Passage To Mars (2016).