ACTUALLY flying to Mars
Ask the crew
11. May 2019
Once explorers, always explorers
16. May 2019
- Ever thought it easy to drop out of warp, enter standard orbit, start sensor scan and open a subspace channel?
- Ever wondered why the spacecraft circling Mars can’t talk to us on Earth whenever it wants?
- Ever wondered if those pesky laws of physics get in the way of spacecraft operations?
- Ever considered the software behind all those fancy displays?
- Ever wondered where does Product Assurance sit on the Bridge? Ever thought space missions are filled with the latest tech?
Well, we need to talk…
Learn about what it’s really like to fly to the Red Planet and how everything you thought you knew from sci-fi is more crazy and intricate in real life than you could possibly have imaged. Join the engineers (and sci-fi fans!) of the European Space Agency’s Mars missions as they tell you how life really is when you’re piloting Europe’s interplanetary fleet across the Solar System.
Lecturer: Armelle Hubault, Chris White, Jana Mulacova, Simon Wood
Duration: 60 min - The Lecture will be held in: englishWe are the European Space Agency, dedicated to the peaceful exploration and use of space for the benefit of everyone. Established in 1975, we now have 22 Member States and for more than 40 years we have promoted European scientific and industrial interests in space. We make space work for everyone. We build and launch rockets and satellites, train astronauts, watch over Earth, explore space and try to answer the big science questions about the Universe.
ESA mission controllers fly spacecraft that watch our planet, study the Universe, or travel billions of kilometres to explore the Solar System. This year at FEDCON, hear from four real engineers that are responsible for flying the two European missions currently orbiting the Red Planet:
Armelle Hubault & Chris White - Armelle and Chris are operations engineers working on the ExoMars mission. ExoMars is ESA's latest Mars mission - it only just arrived in its final orbit at Mars last year and now has a busy science schedule investigating faint gasses in the Martian atmosphere.
Jana Mulacova - Jana works in Product Assurance for a whole range of different missions across ESOC. Her work is critical to ensure that no details are missed and that the teams at ESOC follow proper procedures and standards to ensure our missions are safe and successful.
Simon Wood - Simon is an operation engineer working for the Mars Express flight control team. Mars Express is ESA's first Mars mission and has been orbiting the red planet since 2003. It still delivers amazing science every day and Simon and the Mars Express team are working to ensure it continues as long as possible.
