SuperCam Scientists Honored by SAF

On May 21, 2022, Pernelle Bernardi (Observatoire de Paris – PSL) and Sylvestre Maurice (IRAP) are awarded, by the Astronomical Society of France, the International Astronautical Prize.

“The International Astronautical Prize is awarded in recognition of an important work which can contribute to the progress of one of the questions on which the realization of interstellar navigation depends, or which can increase human knowledge in one of the fields of astronautical science”. Such is the motto carried by the Astronomical Society of France for the attribution of this prestigious prize.

This year, the prize is awarded to Pernelle Bernardi, CNRS engineer at Paris Observatory – PSL, jointly with Sylvestre Maurice from the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, for their major contributions to the SuperCam instrument of the NASA Mars 2020 mission.

Pernelle Bernardi is a system engineer at the Laboratory for Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA) and is responsible for the specifications and performance of SuperCam, while Sylvestre Maurice is the chief scientist and principal investigator of this instrument equipping the masthead of the Perseverance rover, currently deployed on the surface of the planet Mars.

IRAP Contact

• Sylvestre Maurice, sylvestre.maurice@irap.omp.eu