"Space exploration: from rocket engine design to microgravity experiments!" "
by Anne Pacros, SSP-2004
(September 2005)
Born to explore !
When I was about 12 years old, I read an article in a magazine about Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first French astronaut. I decided, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up!”
Then I went through high school and “classes préparatoires” in order to study at the Ecole Centrale in Paris. Thanks to a double-degree program, I went on to study in the USA for two years, earning a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
My first job when I returned to France was to work on the development of a new rocket engine for the Ariane 5 rocket, VINCI (see picture). As the engine had to be designed to be restartable in orbit, some operations had to be performed in microgravity, so I was especially in charge of studies related to engine restart (heat transfer, boiling and fluid flows in microgravity). I also worked on specifying and coordinating thermal analyses and contributed to measurement plans and engine test plans.
The ISU experience
In 2004, I attended the ISU Summer Session in Australia and it was a wonderful experience that gave me the momentum to move on to a new professional life: so now, almost fifteen years after I read the Jean-Loup Chrétien article, I am writing this from the Netherlands where I work at ESTEC, the technical centre of the European Space Agency (ESA).
I coordinate research projects in the field of heat transfer and phase change in microgravity. This includes experiments to be conducted on the International Space Station, and from time to time I also get to participate in parabolic flight campaigns and sounding rocket launches.
I am basically an exploration-addict: I started exploring the sky at age 17 when I got my private pilot license; then a few years later I ventured into the under-water world by learning scuba-diving. I enjoy travelling a lot.
In the past two years, I was also involved in two Mars-analogue missions, staying for two weeks each time in an isolated habitat in the desert and simulating Mars exploration with spacesuits (see picture)! The second of the two missions was called Mona Lisa and was part of an International Space University (ISU) project to compare psycho-sociological aspects in an all-female crew and an all-male crew. The results of the study will be published soon!
Want to know more?
If you want to get in touch with Anne, a SSP alumnus, to learn more about
Mars-analogue missions and exciting microgravity experiments at the European Space Agency (ESA),
please do not hesitate to contact her at 
.
And check out also the ESA page on 'Fluid Physics in Space'!