Patrick Michel (born 25 February 1970 in
Saint-Tropez, France) is a French planetary scientist, Senior Researcher at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), member of the TOP team (for
Theories and Observations in Planetology) within the Lagrange laboratory, itself under the supervision of Université Côte d'Azur, Côte d'Azur Observatory and CNRS, in
Nice (France). He is also a Global Fellow of the University of Tokyo.
Studies
Michel began his advanced education with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and Space Techniques in 1993 where after he moved to the study of asteroids. He received his PhD in 1997 for a thesis titled "Dynamical evolution of Near-Earth Asteroids".
Academic topics
He is specialist of the physical properties and the collisional and dynamical evolution of asteroids. His researches focus on the collisional processes between asteroids, the origin of near-Earth objects,
binary asteroids, their physical properties, their response to various processes (impacts, tidal encounters, shaking) as a function of their internal and surface properties, and the risks of impacts with the Earth. His results have been the subject of more than 600 publications, 108000 reads and 18000 citations in refereed international journals, and have been featured on the covers of both Science
and Nature.
Participations to space missions and mission concepts
Michel is deeply involved in several space missions and mission concepts devoted to the investigation of small bodies and
asteroid hazard.
NEOMAP committee and Don Quijote mission concept
He belongs to the Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP) mandated by European Space Agency (ESA) to recommend space missions devoted to a better understanding of the impact threat.
In 2004, the committee recommends the Don Quijote mission concept, which consists in making a test of asteroid deflection by using the technique of an artificial impactor. This mission was studied at ESA until 2007.
MarcoPolo-R
He was a co-chair of the science study team of the
MarcoPolo-R sample return mission during the assessment study phase (2011-2013) at the ESA.
AIDA: DART and Hera
While Dr Andy Cheng is leading the American science team, Patrick is himself leading the European science team of AIDA, for
Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment, an international space cooperation inspired by Don Quichotte, a collaboration between ESA and
NASA aimed at deflecting the
Dimorphos of the binary near-Earth asteroid Didymos using a
Kinetic energy impactor. AIDA will go into Phase A study at ESA and NASA in February 2015.
Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx
He is a co-I on both the
JAXA Hayabusa2 and NASA
OSIRIS-REx sample return missions to a primitive near-Earth asteroid. Hayabusa2 was launched successfully on December 3, 2014 and OSIRIS-REx will be launched in September 2016.
MMX
Together with Dr
Stephan Ulamec, they are the co-Principal Investigators of IDEFIX©, the rover developed in partnership by
CNES and DLR for the
JAXA MMX mission to return samples from Phobos, a moon of
Mars, which will be launched in 2026 to arrive on Phobos in 2029 and return to Earth in 2031, with a deployment of the rover to perform in-situ surface analyses in 2028.
Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses)
Patrick is also involved in the ESA Ramses concept mission, a spacecraft that would rendezvous with (99942) Apophis before it passes Earth on Friday, 13 April 2029 and accompany the asteroid during the flyby to observe how it is warped and changed by our planet’s gravity. In 2025, this programme has received permission to begin preparatory work. As a result, researchers would study this near-Earth asteroid as Earth’s gravity alters its physical characteristics.
Participations to activities financed by the European Commission
NEOShield and NEOShield-2
He is also responsible of the Work Package on numerical simulations of collisions and asteroid deflection by a kinetic impactor in the European Consortiums NEOShield and NEOShield-2 funded, respectively, by the FP7 and the Horizon2020 framework programmes (2012-2017).
NEO-MAPP
He is the coordinator of the
NEO-MAPP project, also under the Horizon2020 framework programme (2020-2023).
Roles in French and international organisations
He has wide involvement in international organisations and belongs to the Science Program Committee of
CNES (French space agency).
He has been elected Secretary of the Division 3 (Planetary Science) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2009-2012.
He also belongs to the Action Team 14 (AT14) of the COPUOS (for Committee On the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) at the United Nations aimed at recommending actions and an international organisation to deal with the Impact event and to the Steering Committee of the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) recommended by AT14, since it started in 2014. He is also representing IAWN within the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG).
In 2023, he was first elected a Corresponding Member, then a full Member since June 2025, of the International Academy of Astronautics.
In 2024, he was elected to the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG), a NASA committee.
Until 2024 he was the leader of his planetology team within the Joseph-Louis Lagrange Laboratory.
Media
He actively contributes to public outreach and is regularly solicited by various media to participate in French TV shows, radio shows and magazine interviews, and to contribute to the writing of papers in popular journals on topics related to small celestial body hazards, space missions and planetary formation (
cf. external links).
Michel is the Editor-in-chief of the book Asteroids IV published in 2015 by the University of Arizona Press.
In 2023, he is also the author in French of an outreach science book called " A la rencontre des astéroïdes : missions spatiales et défense de la planète" that can be translated into " Encountering asteroids: space missions and defending the planet".
Since 2024, he is contributing to a French podcast called Astroroches, discussing topics related to the little bodies, like their properties, their role in the history of the Solar System, planetary defence, and the space missions dedicated to them.
Awards
In 2006 he received the "Young Researcher" prize from the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
In 2012, he was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society.
In 2013 he was awarded the International Prize Paolo Farinella in Planetary Science from the University of Pisa in recognition of his work on the collisional process.
Asteroid (7561) PatrickMichel was named in his honour by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
External links
