Why should we go to Mars? by David Mimoun - TEDxColomiers
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The InSight mission has been launched on May 5th and it’s currently on its way to the red planet in a solar transfer orbit. Since the 1950s more than fifty missions to Mars have been launched, half of them unsuccessful.
So, why should we go to Mars and use the most brilliant minds of the planet to send half a ton of technology at the surface of another world, when our world seems to need our constant care? David Mimoun is an associate professor in space systems at ISAE-SUPAERO since 2007, and deputy head of the Master in Astrophysics of the University of Toulouse.
He leads the SSPA (Space Systems for Planetology and Applications) ISAE-SUPAERO research team, focusing on the design of space mission and space instruments for the geophysical exploration of the solar system. He was the systems engineer of the SEIS Martian seismometer, until its selection by NASA as part of the InSight 2018 mission. He is currently co-investigator of the InSight mission, in charge of overall performance.
Guest Researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech in 2013-2014, he is also a collaborator of NASA’s upcoming Martian Rover (March 2020), with the supply of the very first Martian microphone (made at ISAE-Supaero) on board SuperCam. He is also the PI of the first CubeSat of the ISAE-SUPAERO, EntrySat.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx