Speaker Biography

Dr. Pascal Lee

Mars Institute

SETI Institute

NASA Ames Research Center

Dr. Pascal Lee is chairman of the Mars Institute, senior planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. He holds an M.E. in geology and geophysics from the University of Paris, and a Ph.D. in astronomy and space sciences from Cornell University. Lee’s research focuses on asteroids, impact craters, and Mars, in particular the history of water on Mars. He was first to propose the Cold Early Mars model for Mars surface evolution based on his fieldwork in Earth’s polar regions. Lee has led over 30 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica viewed as analogs for Mars, including a 402-day winter-over in Antarctica as chief geoscientist at Dumont d’Urville Station. He is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal and of several NASA Group Achievement Awards.

Lee is internationally recognized for his efforts to advance the human exploration of Mars, in particular via its moons Phobos and Deimos. He has worked on the development of spacesuits, EVA systems, drones, and pressurized rovers for future human planetary exploration. Lee was scientist-pilot of the first field test of NASA’s Space Exploration Vehicle, a concept spacecraft for future Moon, Mars, and near-Earth asteroid exploration. He recently led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a record-setting vehicular traverse on sea-ice along the fabled Northwest Passage in the Arctic. The journey is the subject of the award-winning motion picture documentary film Passage To Mars (2016).

Lee is an FAA-certified helicopter commercial pilot and flight instructor. He is an artist-member of International Association of Astronomical Artists and the author of Mission: Mars (Scholastic), a children’s book on the human exploration of Mars. Mission: Mars won the 2015 Prize for Excellence in Children’s Science Books from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Lee is an advisor to NASA.