5 December 2025

9:00 AM – 9:45 AM

Salle Proudhon

Michel Viso

Michel Viso worked as a veterinary surgeon for several years. He joined the École vétérinaire d’Alfort in 1980, then the Institut national de la recherche agronomique in 1981. He was selected as a spaceman by the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) in 1985. He prepared the Rhésus project in cooperation with NASA. His chances of flying vanished in 1993 when NASA abandoned the project. He then assumed scientific responsibility for space experiments in animal physiology and biology on behalf of CNES, in cooperation with the USA, Russia and other partners. In 2004, CNES appointed him scientific manager for exobiology, preparing French participation in the European ExoMars project and future solar system exploration missions, such as the new plans for the return of Martian samples in the 2030s. In 2014, exobiology was enriched by missions dedicated to the search for and study of exoplanets, such as Cheops, Plato and Ariel. With renewed interest in the return of Martian samples, he represents CNES on the Panel for Planetary Protection of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). In June 2021, Michel Viso becomes Innovaxiom’s scientific advisor.

A limit to human exploration?

Space exploration is once again at the heart of issues of national sovereignty and power. The main celestial bodies of the solar system have been flown over, photographed or explored by probes or robots. To date, human exploration has remained the prerogative of the United States, and is limited to the Moon. The possibility of sending human beings to Mars has been discussed for many years, and numerous scenarios are envisaged. Such exploration does not seem impossible, although it does appear extremely risky and difficult. The United States and, more discreetly, China are preparing these missions. Already, some voices are advocating going further afield, into the solar system or even the galaxy. Behind these prophecies are many passions, dreams and finances, but little science. Will the reality of exploration one day equal or surpass fiction?