Meet the Spartan who helped NASA go to Mars (again)
As a high school student, Terry Himes dreamed of exploring space. Today, the Spartan who graduated in 1975 from Michigan State University’s College of Engineering is living his dream.
“Just today, I was building the relay commands for Mars 2020, but also Curiosity and InSight,” says Himes, a spacecraft and software engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA’s Perseverance rover arrived on Mars, landing safely on Feb. 18, joining the missions Himes references. The InSight lander touched down on Mars in 2018, and Curiosity is a rover that’s clocked more than 3,000 Martian days on the red planet.
Michigan Native Part Of NASA s Mission On Mars wmmq.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wmmq.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Michigan native was part of the team that helped NASA s Perseverance rover touchdown on Mars last week. Terry Himes grew up in Grand Ledge and has had a love for science since he was a kid.
According to Fox News, Himes is an engineer at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His role in the recent mission included relay systems, which collects data. This isn t the first mission he s helped with, he s been involved in thirty others, as well.
Every event like this is incredibly exciting. The anticipation is huge because you work on these missions for many, many, many years.
Museum of Flight Space Mavens Offer Insights from Earth to Mars
Museum of Flight Space Mavens Offer Insights from Earth to Mars
An illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover landing safely on Mars. Photo NASA.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover lands on the Red Planet Feb. 18, and the Museum of Flight is hosting two live, online panel programs to prep and cover the landing with NASA JPL Mars mission engineers. The preview discussion on Feb. 11 includes Mallory Lefland, JPL Flight Controller, who will be on duty with NASA Mission Control for the rover landing; and on landing day, Feb. 18, the program includes Bill Cahill, the program manager for the MR-80 rocket engines that will power the descent stage bringing Perseverance to the surface of Mars. Both programs are free and online.