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Revenge of the science nerds
Pathfinder's brain trust steps into the spotlight
July 11, 1997
Web posted at: 10:56 p.m. EDT (0256 GMT)From Correspondent Anne McDermott
PASADENA, California (CNN) -- With all of the hubbub about Mars this past week, it's been cool to be a science nerd.
The highly-degreed scientists and engineers behind the Mars Pathfinder project, normally laboring in a technical world of anonymity, have stepped into the media glare as their labors captured the world's imagination.
CNN's Ann McDermott takes a close look at the men and women behind the mission. Then, CNN's John Zarrella gets to know them a little better in Pasadena, California.
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Rob Manning, the flight systems engineer, is the animated guy with the beard and the headset who has led his crew in hugs and high-fives.
He wears the mantle of nerd proudly.
"By the standards of our society, anybody who's fascinated by technical things is often considered a nerd and, you know, I don't really mind that title," he says. "I wish more people were nerds, quite frankly."
Donna Shirley, who designed the Sojourner rover, has also become a Mars star, with her clear, simple explanations of technical mumbo jumbo. It's a skill she comes by honestly.
"When my daughter was in preschool, I went over and taught science to the 3- and 4-year-olds," she says. How? "We had them sliding down the slide, yelling, 'Gravity!'"
Matt Golombek is the entertaining one at all those news conferences who actually once even uttered these words about Pathfinder: "The sky's the limit." And chuckled afterward.
But Golombek says space wasn't such a big deal to him when he was younger. Rocks were what caught his fancy.
"I'm a geologist by training, and I got into geology because I wanted to know how mountains got to be mountains and valleys got to be valleys," he says.
Fortunately for Golombek, Mars has mountains and valleys aplenty. But the long days and nights shepherding Pathfinder are eating into his family time -- though his kids do get to see him, in a way
"[They] asked my wife, 'Why is daddy always on TV and not home with us?'" Golombek says. His response? "Daddy says, 'I'll be home real soon.'"
Despite the notoriety, Golombek hasn't received any fan mail so far. Or maybe he just hasn't checked, because Shirley and Manning have both received some.
But nobody's going Hollywood here.
"I didn't do this job to be famous," Manning says. "I did this job to explore Mars."
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- Sojourner, meet Barnacle Bill - July 6, 1997
- Tiny Mars rover set to take giant roll for mankind - July 5, 1997
- NASA gets good news on Pathfinder glitch - July 5, 1997
- NASA gets good news on Pathfinder glitch - July 5, 1997
- Communications glitch hampers Mars rover - July 5, 1997
- Mars Pathfinder sends first snapshots - July 4, 1997
- NASA: Pathfinder has landed - July 4, 1997
- Pathfinder speeds toward Martian surface - July 4, 1997
- Pathfinder nears its destiny - July 3, 1997
- Scientists giddy as Pathfinder nears Mars - July 1, 1997
- NASA hope third time's the charm for Mars probe launch - December 3, 1996
- Pathfinder to roam Mars in search of possible life - October 1, 1996
Related sites:
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- Welcome to the Mars Pathfinder Mission!
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Pathfinder Landing Timeline
- Mars Pathfinder Mission
- Mars Global Surveyor
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