The View from Cloud Nine
As I stood in the Horseshoe with my diploma in my hand in 1987, nothing could have forecast my career path. Yet that was where my ascent to cloud nine began.
Preparing for the Phoenix Lander’s entry, descent and landing on Mars — a project we began in 2005 — was the most exhaustive test and analysis program our industry has ever formulated and executed under a cost-capped mission plan.
When we launched Phoenix from Earth in August 2007, we were confident in our EDL design under nominal and reasonably off-nominal scenarios. But we still re-doubled our efforts during the 10-month cruise phase to drive down remaining risks. Two months prior to EDL, we loaded the handful of robustness modifications on-board and declared ourselves ready. From that point forward the only thing left to do was execute.
With the lander’s three major configuration changes, 22 pyrotechnic events and a velocity change from 12,500 to 0 mph, all in less than 15 minutes, our second-guessing haunted every waking and sleeping moment. As the day drew nearer and the spacecraft and operations team continued to perform flawlessly, it all became very surreal. It was like watching a test — a very nominal test — and yet this was the real deal. Everything and everyone involved executed perfectly; Phoenix landed May 25.
Now I know personally that the view from cloud nine truly is spectacular. After working so hard, for so long, with so many committed people, the feeling of accomplishment was simply wonderful.
Following the perfect landing, the work continued. We had a new machine on the surface of Mars that needed care and feeding and also needed to be exercised in the manner for which it was sent. Our descent thrusters blew the loose soil away directly under the nozzles and exposed the top of the ice— the ice that we were sent to look for. And within a few days of landing, we had made our first trench in the surface, again revealing the water ice that resides just below the surface. At that point, the scientists were joining me on cloud nine, because their dreams and designs were coming to fruition just like mine did on EDL day.
Thinking back to 1987 and holding that diploma, my career path has been more of a random walk than a targeted set of goals and objectives. To my fellow alumni and current students: I know some of you have very clear ambitions and destinations. But for those of you who don’t: Don’t worry. Let your interests and your talents and your evolved experiences propel you along. Who knows? Maybe you’ll also sit on cloud nine — or the northern plains of Mars — some day.
