Excellence with passion
"My Summer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory": the Testimony of Axel, an Advanced Master TAS Astro Student
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Axel Coulon has been on placement at NASA’s famous JPL in Los Angeles since May.
He is working on detecting helicopter landing sites on Mars.
As a student on the MS TAS Astro programme, he talks about the incredible space adventure that has taken him from his native Lorraine to California.
It’s the story of a kid from Lorraine who has always asked himself a lot of questions. “Ever since I was a child, I’ve been in search for meaning,” says Axel Coulon. “That’s why I was interested in philosophy and space from a very early age.” Four years ago, the American Mars 2020 mission turned this interest into a passion.
This mission to explore the Red Planet, which culminated in the Perseverance rover being sent to Mars, was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). But at the time, in 2020, Axel had no idea that he himself would be working in this prestigious laboratory, as a student at ISAE-SUPAERO. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was continuing his higher education at Polytech Nancy, an engineering school near his home.
And he was riveted by the Perseverance odyssey. “I kept asking myself: how could we send a helicopter and a rover to Mars?” The Martian adventure ended up influencing his decision to focus his training on space, and more specifically on space rovers and helicopters.
I always wanted to do Supaéro. But attending a classe préparatoire and a Grande École wasn’t common in the environment I grew up in.
After an academic stay in Montreal to study on-board automation, Axel first landed a placement at ESA’s European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne. It was a dream come true. “I was helping to develop electronic software for the tablets that astronauts use to send data from field training. I had the opportunity to work with European astronauts like Luca Parmitano and to meet Thomas Pesquet on several occasions. I used to think about the village of 1,000 people where I grew up and say to myself, this is incredible!”
Once he had his engineering degree, he decided to do a year’s specialization at ISAE-SUPAERO via the TAS Astro Advanced Master. In September 2023, he heads for Toulouse to fulfil a new dream: “I’ve always wanted to do Supaéro. But attending a classe préparatoire and a Grande École wasn’t common in the environment I grew up in.”
On the Toulouse campus, Axel quickly felt in his element. He made friends with other space enthusiasts and joined diving and football clubs. He also immersed himself 100% in his training: “It was an intense and demanding year, but it was great for acquiring a complete knowledge of space engineering!” Above all, he was able to talk to alumni who had just returned from their internships at NASA. That’s when the idea, still crazy a few months earlier, took shape in his mind: “I’m going to do it too.”
My professors were very supportive. I realised that when you dare to ask for help, you get it. And that gives you confidence.
But an internship at JPL was not a foregone conclusion. “Thanks to my professors, I contacted several researchers working in flight robotics, but the replies were slow in coming.”
Without wasting any time, he embarked on another challenge: finding funding. Many months passed, during which Axel took the risk of turning down a great opportunity for an internship in France. Deep down, he couldn’t stop believing. “My professors in Toulouse and Nancy were very supportive. I realised that when you dare to ask for help, you get it, and that gives you confidence.” And he was right. His deserving profile and results won him an Espace grant from the Fondation des Ailes de France, a grant from his Region (Grand Est) and a grant from the Fondation ISAE-SUPAERO. After four and a half months, he completed his budget by supplementing this funding with a loan from the same Foundation.
There are lots of Supaero’s alumni in LA! For the first few weeks, when I went around wearing my ISAE-SUPAERO T-shirt or cap, I’d get stopped in the street. I thought: they’re everywhere!
Los Angeles is finally in his sights. At the end of April 2024, Axel sets off with the excitement of discovering the laboratory to which he owes his passion. But also the West Coast and the famous American way of life. “When you first discover American life, you’re amazed”, he says. “There are house parties, you visit California… Everything seems so big. When you see LA from the window of the plane, you ask yourself: how big is this city?” From time to time, however, he is reminded of the Pink City. “There are lots of Sup” alumni in LA! For the first few weeks, when I went around wearing my ISAE-SUPAERO T-shirt or cap, I’d get stopped in the street,” he jokes. “I thought: they’re everywhere!”
At the JPL alone, he meets up with five other ISAE-SUPAERO students, all from the Ingénieur Programme. “I don’t think we’ve ever been so many at the same time!” The atmosphere is “very international” and the site fills him with wonder: “It’s just as I imagined it would be. I’m working in the new drone aviary. You can see there’s a lot of equipment and a lot of money.”
In the United States, we don’t see work and management in the same way as in France. Problems are solved like an audit. Everyone is also given a great deal of freedom to act, which instils confidence. We assume that people know what they’re doing.
His research placement focuses on the detection of landing sites for helicopters on Mars, in line with the Mars 2020 mission. However, the corporate culture is different from what he is used to in Europe. Fortunately, Axel has already had the opportunity to work in an American environment, during an academic semester at the French branch of Georgia Tech University in Metz. “In the United States, we don’t see work and management in the same way as in France. Problems are solved like an audit. Everyone also has a lot of freedom to act, which builds confidence. We assume that people know what they’re doing.”
This freedom of initiative is all the greater because he arrived just a few months after a plan to make engineers redundant at JPL. “There was work to be done, and I was immediately given the responsibilities of an engineer.”
The prospect of new lunar explorations is really exciting! My dream now would be to work at ESA, at the European Astronaut Centre where I did my traineeship, and where they develop lunar facilities.
However, he doesn’t see himself staying in the United States after his internship. “As a Frenchman, I think it’s important to come back and work in Europe, on the continent that trained me and gave me so much”. After his first love of Mars, he is now looking to the Moon. “With the prospect of future explorations, it’s very exciting!” His new goal? “To work at ESA, at the EAC where I did my traineeship, and where lunar facilities are being developed.”
He’s sure to miss the Californian sun when he gets back, just after Halloween. But Axel is also looking forward to seeing his loved ones again. “Here in LA, everyone has their own car and house, and there are very few people in the street. I kind of miss the social atmosphere of France!”.
