Pascal Lee

Planetary Scientist @SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @NASA @HMP Arctic, Antarctica, Humans To Mars, @NSS Planet Dev, Art: @spacetimeartist CFI🚁 #XSR🏍️

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

12 Mar 2022. “RIDE AGAINST THE WAR IN UKRAINE”
Joined this event today. Carried #Ukraine banner from San Jose, CA to San Francisco, CA City Hall. Salute to all those fighting for #Freedom.

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

@Super_Grover @NASAWatch @nss @TheNas @SETIInstitute

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

On Episode 218 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss NASA's new moonbase plans with planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee. https://t.co/H8zaUi4OAw

[NASA JPL @NASAJPL]

Mars in motion! ⏩

While on its way to explore a mysterious, metal-rich asteroid, our Psyche spacecraft sped by Mars for a gravity assist to pick up speed and adjust its trajectory. As it approached the planet, it captured this series of high-res snaps.

[PNASNews @PNASNews]

Artistic visions have both shaped and responded to #Mars missions for decades. Planned missions for the coming years are no exception. A PNAS Science and Culture article: https://t.co/WilhFrDxbu

#SciArt #ArtAndScience #NASA #SpaceAge #SpaceExploration #ManifestDestiny

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

MOON BASE: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Am loving NASA's new Moon Base direction, but I think we need to rethink its location.

The lunar South Polar regions present extremes in percentage of time with no solar illumination -not just the permanently shadowed regions; the rest doesn't get much sunlight either-, low Pluto-like temperatures, steep rubbly terrain, and as far as we know for now, not that much H2O. We should for sure explore and prospect these regions aggressively, but via an armada of robots designed to operate at cold temps, in the dark, and up and down steep slopes.

Meanwhile, to have a good strategic exploration base from which astronauts could optimally access and explore ALL of the Moon -including eventually the South Polar regions if/when we do find a good spot to extract H2O there-, we should consider an off-polar site. I also think our science and prospecting priorities on the Moon would actually benefit, short-term and long-term, by not having astronauts operate in the south polar region just yet. Same for other stakeholders: industry, tourism, etc.

We should establish our Moon Base, not in the south polar region, but at the edge of it. Suggested option to consider: Clavius crater (lunar nearside, ~60°S).

@SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @CeresRobotics @NASAAmes @NASA @nss

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

On Episode 218 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss NASA's new moonbase plans with planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee. https://t.co/H8zaUi4OAw

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

AI & SPACE: THE ARTIFICIAL ASTRONAUT

Enjoyed chatting w/ Prem Talreja on his new podcast: AI Entanglement.
Shared with him my thoughts on the dawn of the artificial astronaut.
https://t.co/REfKvjbKjC

@SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @CeresRobotics @NASAAmes @NASA @nss @ArtOfAstronomy

[marsboy @marsboy]

Today is Asteroid Day: Risks and Opportunities

https://t.co/xJaorDVu1k

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

HUMANS TO TITAN

Exciting first workshop that looked at prospect of humans exploring Saturn's largest moon #Titan beyond the Moon and Mars.

Was happy to highlight recent work we had done w/ my student interns Jonah Dijoux on a #spacesuit for Titan and Maria Soldatova on a crewed #helicopter, and presented the new concept of a crewed #hovercraft to zip around Titan's surface.

I also discussed the key role to be anticipated for artificial astronauts (#android astronauts equiped w/ #AGI & eventually #ASI) whom we will, by then, consider essentially humans. Not only will they help us achieve humans to Titan sooner, they will be key to enabling #interstellar travel beyond.

Warm thanks to Amanda Hendrix, Bill O'Hara & their team @ExploreTitan for organizing, & Scot Rafkin @SwRI for hosting. Historic.

@SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @CeresRobotics @NASAAmes @NASA @NSS @ArtOfAstronomy @spacetimeartist

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

Researchers met recently for the first "Humans to Titan Summit 2026," which explored how to send astronauts to the huge Saturn moon. https://t.co/eOYbMqSyqJ

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

@tanyaweiman 😂

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

A BASE ON TITAN

At Humans To Mars Summit Day 2 today.

A base on Titan's radiation-shielded surface would be good not only to explore Titan itself, but the entire Saturnian system, incl. Enceladus whose plume materials (which come from inside Enceladus and might include life!) could be examined in a lab on Titan shortly after they are collected on Encaladus, before radiation around Saturn alters/destroys these materials.

A roundtrip between Titan's surface and that of Enceladus would take a delta-v of only 4.11 km/s, comparable to a roundtrip between the lunar surface and low lunar orbit.

That said, I'm envisioning mostly artificial astronauts (androids with artificial general intelligence) rather than biological humans on Titan. But you'd still want a base.

Pic shows a crewed helicopter landing at a base on Titan, from the Titan helicopter paper Maria Soldatova & I published in 2025.

#exploretitan #humanstotitan
@SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @CeresRobotics @NASAAmes @NASA

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

@serenity_astra @ExploreTitan or at least reducing the risk.

[Eric Berger @SciGuySpace]

The implications of New Glenn’s failure are probably worse than you think. I dig in here to some of the most serious concerns.

https://t.co/IkUTNjDvjI

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

@nss @NASAWatch @astrobiology @KeithCowing Congrats Keith!

[NASA @NASA]

Join us today for a live event where we'll share our @NASAMoonBase plans! At 2pm ET (1800 UTC), we'll update you on our progress toward a long-term presence on the Moon. Watch right here on X.

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

Starship V3 launch: Hey, Space Fans! SpaceX is 30 minutes away from its 1st launch of a next-gen Starship. Watch along with us here for the 6:30 pm ET liftoff!
https://t.co/9w802yNG6r

[Eric Berger @SciGuySpace]

Less than 30 minutes now to the much-anticipated launch of the third version of the Starship rocket. So many people worked so freaking hard on this, I am pulling for y'all!

https://t.co/sSl6bz2Ulr

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

NASA's asteroid-bound Psyche spacecraft flew by Mars for a gravity assist on the way to its final target. And it took some awesome pictures on the way. https://t.co/OZA04btixM

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

MARS ESCAPADE MISSION

Nice interview of Robert Lillis @RobLillis, PI of the NASA Mars Escapade @escapade_mars twin spacecraft mission, by Rod Pyle @Chryseplanatia & Tariq Malik @tariqjmalik on This Week In Space @TWiT. The two spacecraft, named "Blue" & "Gold", launched in Nov 2025 and should reach Mars orbit in Sep 2027.

[rodpyle @Chryseplanatia]

With the MAVEN mission gone silent, we spoke with the PI of Mars ESCAPADE about this new effort to understand the Martian atmosphere. @twit @nss @tariqjmalik
https://t.co/fcSLXdPQGS

[Pascal Lee @pascalleetweets]

'EXPLORING MARS' AT
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Happy to announce the National Acad of Sciences has acquired my painting EXPLORING MARS (Oil on board, 24 x 12 in., 2021), which will now form part of its permanent collection in Washington D.C.

I painted EXPLORING MARS as an homage (& update) to the painting w/ same title by Chesley Bonestell (1988-1986), the father of spaceflight art. Bonestell's EXPLORING MARS first appeared in the book "The Exploration of Mars", authored by Wernher Von Braun & Willy Ley, w/ paintings by Chesley Bonestell (Viking Press, 1956). The caption of Bonestell's illustration read: "The ground station had been set up on Mars, and the explorers are beginning to investigate the vicinity of the landing site".

In 2021, during covid, I had the hubris of working on a makeover of Bonestell's painting. I wanted to pay tribute to the grand master of space art & his creation of an iconic classic, but also update elements of the landscape & hardware in light of new scientific knowledge gained about Mars in the intervening 65 yrs, & evolutions in our thinking about future Mars exploration systems & human surface operations.

Bonestell's original EXPLORING MARS (Oil on board, 28 1/2 x 14 1/2 in., 1956) is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.. So, as incredible as it seems to me, our two paintings are now hanging side by side, separated by the Washington Mall.

I am very grateful to Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS) for this acquisition & honor, in particular to J.D. Talasek, Director of CPNAS, and to Dr. Marcia McNutt @Marcia4Science, President of the National Academy of Sciences.

@SETIInstitute @MarsInstitute @KeplerUni @CeresRobotics @NASAAmes @nasa @theNASEM @theNASciences @CPNAS @airandspace @nss @ArtOfAstronomy @CKBonestell @spacetimeartist