That is so cool! Thank you for the updates, fire. I love all things Mars, and it’s great getting straight scoop info.
fire
4154
Aw, thanks for the shout-out. There are (or have been) many of us! I think most of the folks on that page have transitioned off-project by now, mainly to Perseverance (Mars 2020), but you can get a good idea of how diverse the team has been and continues to be. I’m salty that the chicken I’m holding was cropped from my photo. It was a cute chicken.
Many is the right word. Wow!
Also: you’re writing a novel? Please do tell!
(Edit: or shouldn’t I say that here? In that case, please do tell and I’ll remove it right away!)
Some of the “many of you” should get to updating the website again…
Future
We are not done studying Mars. NASA will be launching the Insight mission in 2018 to study the interior of Mars. For the first time, we’ll get sophisticated geophysical measurements from the interior, including heat flow and measurement of seismic activity.
In 2020, NASA will also send the Mars 2020 rover to continue seeking the signs of life on Mars. Another aspect of the Mars 2020 rover mission will be to collect carefully documented rock and soil samples that we hope to return to Earth for study…
fire
4157
Yep! I finished the first draft and am going through the second round of edits. It’s a not-so-tragic not-quite-love story and has nothing to do with Mars or rovers.
chicken romance confirmed
Still very cool, even without Mars or rovers. Could luck with the edits , I know all about that (going through the final editing of my thesis right now…). Just amazing how I keep spotting little mistakes (that I obviously missed the 100-odd times I checked it before…)
Skipper
4161
Wow that’s a diverse team. I wish I worked for a similar place, I’m sure it brings a lot of different thought processes into one place for collaboration.
Fire, how is the mood there regarding possible changes under a new administration? I’m assuming (hoping?) NASA gets budgeted a bit better, and I’m excited for the new Science Advisor serving directly as a cabinet member.
fire
4162
You have no idea! I have a colleague who keeps track of how many PhDs are in a meeting, and how many women are in a meeting. Today, I was in a meeting with other engineers (embedded systems and instruments) with 100% women, 75% PhDs.
We’re affected by budget in that certain programs get defunded (e.g., Mars Helicopter) or see a decrease in funding (e.g., MER and MSL). Some projects get all the funding they want (e.g., Mars 2020). When the government shuts down, only Federal projects and new projects are affected because we’re run by Caltech, like any research lab.
As for administration… I dunno. /shrug
SN9 launch stream later today here, assuming it doesn’t get scrubbed:
Matt_W
4164
That’s awesome :) I work in a plasma physics facility. Our diversity mostly comes from having a highly international cadre of scientists working under our roof, but we’ve also made an effort to hire women scientists over the last decade. When I started here 12 years ago, I think there was one or two. Now, it’s not uncommon to have many operational spots all be filled by women scientists, programmers, and techs on any particular run day. I had a (male) colleague comment recently that it is nice to hear that the average vocal pitch in the hubbub of our control room is noticeably higher.
Skipper
4165
Very cool! You don’t by chance work at the PPPL do you?
Matt_W
4166
Nope, though we have a bunch of PPPL employees who work full time at our facility. I’m at DIII-D in San Diego.
Skipper
4167
Awesome. More power to you and all those folks working on that technology as it will seriously change the world at some point. I have a science whiz kid nephew who is amazing at anything STEM related but finally chose biotechnology at some point in his undergrad. He now has a masters and is working on a doctorate while doing work for a biotech company in the RTP area of North Carolina. He at one point wanted to go into physics. Brilliant kid, I hope I’m alive to read about whatever he puts his mind to one day. It’s rare to meet young people that want so badly to change the world for the better.
Getting close to launch now. About 20 minutes.
Menzo
4169
There it goes! I love that it looks like it’s straight out of Metropolis.
My phone is supposed to notify me when these things launch. Something must be misconfigured.
Menzo
4171
It’s weirdly not being streamed by SpaceX. I’m watching it on NASASpaceflight’s channel.
