Mission Makers: Cedric David, Scientist on the SWOT Water-Tracking Mission

Cedric David is part of the science team behind the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a mission led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). SWOT will make the first global survey of nearly all the water on Earth’s surface. Born in France, David is now a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Water was the one place where David felt comfortable growing up, and now he studies the world’s rivers. In a visit to Castaic Lake in California, David describes what drives him: the preciousness of water as a resource for everyone around the world. The SWOT mission is a collaboration between NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. SWOT is expected to launch in December 2022.