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In the first of the Masterclass series, we head to Darmstadt, Germany, where epoch-making robotic space exploration missions have been flown under the watchful eye of one man, Paolo Ferri.<\/p>\n
Once a spacecraft is launched to space, that\u2019s it. Thousands or millions of kilometres away, there can be no manual fixes, on-the-fly upgrades or last-minute changes. It’s now up to teams at mission control to use the tools and technologies at their disposal, as well as their own knowledge, teamwork and creativity to overcome the inevitable problems faced by any mission in space.<\/p>\n
In \u2018Thinking Outside the Box,\u201d Paolo describes three missions that suffered unexpected and potentially fatal flaws: Smart-1, Cluster and Exosat, and how on-the-ground knowledge, innovation and ingenuity prevented their untimely demise, allowing the science to go on.<\/p>\n
With 36 years\u2019 of experience at ESA, Paolo Ferri is responsible for mission operations, and he has played a leading role in ensuring the success of missions like Eureca, ESA\u2019s first-ever reusable satellite; Cluster, one of the longest-flying science missions; Venus Express, Europe\u2019s first exploration of Earth\u2019s \u2018evil twin\u2019; and Rosetta, humanity\u2019s first landing on a comet.<\/p>\n
In five episodes of \u2018Leadership at Mission Control\u2019, Paolo takes us through major events in his career at ESA, covering cornerstone missions, first attempts, overcoming technical challenges, building diverse teams, working under pressure and solving the unexpected problems that are part of any space endeavour.<\/p>\n