Pascal Lee

Infobox Person
name = Pascal Lee

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image_size = 180px
caption = Dr Pascal Lee
residence = Santa Clara, CA, USA
occupation = Planetary Scientist, Explorer
Mars Institute
SETI Institute
NASA Ames Research Center
education = M.E. University of Paris (1987)
M.S. Cornell University (1993)
Ph.D. Cornell University (1997)

Pascal Lee is co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and the Principal Investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He holds an ME in geology and geophysics from the University of Paris, and a PhD in astronomy and space sciences from Cornell University.

Lee's research focuses on Mars, asteroids, and impact craters, in particular in connection with the history of water on planets and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. He is known internationally for his work on Moon and Mars analogs in the Arctic, Antarctica, and other extreme environments on Earth. He is the author and co-author of over 100 scientific publications and serves as Associate Editor for the Mars Journal.Fact|date=November 2007

In 1988, Lee wintered over for 402 days at Dumont d'Urville station, Adelie Land, Antarctica, where he served as station chief geophysicist. He also participated in five summer campaigns on that continent as a geologist and planetary scientist, in particular as a member of the US Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) program.

In 1997, Lee initiated the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP), an international multidisciplinary field research project centered on science and exploration studies at the Haughton impact crater and surrounding terrain on Devon Island, Arctic Canada, viewed as an analog site for the Moon and Mars. Lee has led over a dozen HMP field expeditions to date and continues to serve as the project's director in support of research for NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

Pascal Lee is widely recognized for his efforts to advance the human exploration of Mars, in particular via its asteroid-like moons Phobos and Deimos. He is the Principal Investigator of the Phobos Reconnaissance and International Mars Exploration or PRIME Mars mission concept.Fact|date=November 2007

Lee is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal and the Space Frontier Foundation's Vision to Reality Award. He is a PADI-certified scuba diver and an FAA-certified helicopter flight instructor. He lives in Santa Clara, California.

Early years

Pascal Lee was born in Hong Kong and attended St. Joseph's Primary School in Wan Chai. At age 8, he went to boarding school in France where he first attended Le Petit College de la Tournelle in Septeuil, Yvelines, then the Ecole St. Martin de France in Pontoise, near Paris.

After graduating with a B.S. in physics from the University of Paris, Lee went on to earn an M.E. in geology and geophysics from that university's Institute of Science and Technology (IST). He began Mars research as a student intern under Audouin Dollfus at the Paris Observatory and Philippe Masson at the University of Paris-Sud.Fact|date=November 2007

While in college in Paris, Pascal Lee was an active member of the Cosmos Club de France, a space exploration society founded by space scientist and author Albert Ducrocq. In 1982, Lee was elected the Cosmos Club de France's General Secretary and served in that position until 1987.

From November 1987 to February 1989, Lee spent over a year in Antarctica on national service duty. Upon his return, he moved to the United States to begin graduate studies in astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Cornell Years

Pascal Lee's PhD thesis dissertation at Cornell was titled: "Physical properties and processes of asteroid regoliths and interiors". His thesis advisor was planetary scientist Joseph Veverka. Lee worked at Cornell as a research and teaching assistant in astronomy, in particular with Joe Veverka and the late Carl Sagan.Fact|date=November 2007

As a graduate student, Lee participated in several NASA planetary spacecraft missions, including Voyager 2's flyby of Neptune and its large moon Triton, Galileo's flyby of asteroids 951 Gaspra and 243 Ida, and Mars Observer. Lee was assigned the naming of the first surface features resolved on an asteroid, the impact craters of 951 Gaspra.Fact|date=November 2007

In 1993, Pascal Lee was awarded the Cornell University Department of Astronomy Eleanor Norton York Award.Fact|date=November 2007

In 2004, Lee was invited to return to Cornell to teach one semester as Visiting Assistant Professor of astronomy.

Mars Missions

In 1999, Pascal Lee collaborated as a Participating Scientist on the NASA Mars Polar Lander mission.

In 2001, Lee served as Principal Investigator of the H₂O Mars Exploration Rover or HOMER mission concept proposed jointly by the SETI Institute and the Boeing Company to NASA's Mars Scout program. HOMER was the first mission to Mars proposed by the Boeing Company.

Lee is currently the Principal Investigator of the Phobos Reconnaissance and International Mars Exploration or PRIME Mars mission concept study proposed jointly by the Mars Institute, Optech Inc., and MDA to the Canadian Space Agency.

Mars Institute

In 2002, Pascal Lee and space entrepreneur Marc Boucher co-founded the Mars Institute, an international non-profit public benefit research organization dedicated to advancing the scientific study, exploration, and public understanding of Mars.

Mars Institute-USA is based at the NASA Ames Research Park at Moffett Field, California. Mars Institute-Canada is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Haughton-Mars Project

The Haughton-Mars Project or HMP is an international multidisciplinary field research project centered on science and exploration studies at the Haughton impact crater and surrounding terrain on Devon Island, Arctic Canada, viewed as an analog site for the Moon and Mars.

Lee's principal collaborators on the HMP are Christopher McKay (HMP Technical Monitor) at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Brian Glass (HMP NASA Exploration Liaison) at NASA ARC, Stephen Braham (HMP Deputy Lead and Chief Field Engineer) at the Mars Institute and Simon Fraser University, John Schutt (HMP Base Manager and Chief Field Guide) at the Mars Institute, and Nicholas Wilkinson (HMP Project Manager) at the Mars Institute.

The Haughton-Mars Project Research Station or HMPRS, at 75^o26'N, 89^o52'W, is the world's largest privately operated polar research station. In 2005, the HMPRS was selected to become a node of the Canadian Space Agency's newly formed Canadian Analogue Research Network or CARN program. The HMP RS is managed and operated by the Mars Institute in collaboration with the SETI Institute, and currently supports research from both NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.

Mars Habitats

In 1998, as Principal Investigator of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP), Lee proposed the creation of a Mars Lander-like habitat on Devon Island to support field studies of requirements for future human Mars exploration. After co-founding the Mars Society, Lee led the establishment and early operation of the world's first Mars habitat, the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station or FMARS. The FMARS was conceived to serve as a new research element participating in the HMP. The Mars Society collaborated on the HMP through the 2001 field season, but since 2002, it has not been participating in the HMP.Fact|date=November 2007

Mars-1 Humvee Rover

In 2003, Lee led an Arctic winter expedition to drive the Mars Institute's Mars-1 Humvee Rover from Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island, to Cape McBain on Devon Island across the Wellington Channel's 40 km of sea-ice. Accompanying Lee were American explorer John Schutt and Inuit field guides Paul Amagoalik and Joe Amarualik of Resolute Bay. The crossing was a success and the Mars-1 now serves as a mobile field lab and concept vehicle for future pressurized planetary rovers at HMP.

External links

* [http://www.marsinstitute.info Mars Institute]
* [http://www.seti.org SETI Institute]
* [http://www.marsjournal.org The Mars Journal]