Albert Haldemann is Mars Chief Engineer in ESA’s Mars Exploration Group, supporting ESA’s partnership with NASA for both the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Mission, and the Mars Sample Return Program.

Albert has international experience in space project and program implementation, management and operations from work on five of the ten spacecraft attempting to land on Mars since 1997. Albert obtained his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from Caltech in 1997, after a Diplôme de Physicien from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where he was also a jet pilot in the Swiss Air Force. He worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1997 to 2007 in various roles, including as Senior Engineer in the Communication, Tracking and Radar Division, as Deputy Project Scientist of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and as Deputy Section Manager of the Planetary Science Section within JPL’s Science Division.

Albert joined ESA in 2007 as the Payload and AIV Manager for the ExoMars program. In that role, he has overseen the development, delivery, and system-level testing of four flight instruments to the Trace Gas Orbiter and one payload suite to the Schiaparelli lander for ExoMars 2016, as well for the nine flight instruments to the Rosalind Franklin Rover for ExoMars 2022. He supervised all ExoMars integration, testing, and verification for ExoMars 2016, and, in cooperation with Russian partners, for ExoMars 2022. During the ExoMars 2016 Launch Campaign in Baikonur he briefly served as ESA’s launch campaign manager.

Albert is a space exploration enthusiast, convinced that what humans learn from getting to Mars, and on Mars, is a mirror to examine our existence on Earth. He enjoys cycling, dog walking, and travel.