Astrophysics and Particle Physics

Biography

Prof. Bernard H. Foing is the Elected Chair of ESA ESTEC Staff Association Committee (representing 1400 colleagues), and Senior Scientist and Exploration Officer at ESTEC. He is Executive Director, International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG). He has a Research Habilitation and a PhD in Astrophysics and Space Techniques (sounding rocket experiment in France CNRS and US New Mexico, Boulder, Harvard). He graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure ENSET and was admitted as Agrégé Professor of Physics, He joined CNRS and worked 3 years with ESO European Southern Observatory and French embassy in Chile. He has worked at ESA as visiting scientist, staff scientist, Head of Research Division, Chief scientist, in ESA Space Science Department. He has been Co-investigator of space missions instruments such as TRC, SOHO, XMM, Mars-Express, COROT, BIOPAN, Expose/ISS, ExoMars. He is the Project scientist, father of SMART-1 first European mission to the Moon, from conception in 1996 to lunar final impact in 2006. He has led studies of lunar orbiters and landers, and technology developments. With ILEWG, he has been promoting international collaborative projects, the preparation for a global robotic village, and a human base. He is a full member of International Academy of Astronautics, Special Professor at VU Amsterdam, Distinguished Research Professor at Florida Tech. Space scientist in astrophysics, astrobiology, lunar and planetary exploration, he authored or co-authored more than 200 refereed papers and other 450 publications, and edited 16 books.

Research Interest

Astronomy