Latest Breaking News On - Washington today - Page 13 : comparemela.com

Here are three connections we have to that mission beyond “your tax dollars at work.” First, when the rover was making its dramatic landing on Mars — scientists call the act of landing a spacecraft there “seven minutes of terror” — those signals were relayed through the Green Bank Radio Astronomy Observatory just up the road from us in Green Bank, West Virginia. The staff there knew the rover had landed safely even before those with NASA did. Second, the woman that viewers heard narrating the landing was flight controller Swati Mohan, who is in charge of guidance and controls for the Perseverance mission. She grew up in Fairfax County and credits one of her high school teachers with getting her interested in engineering. Two decades and a doctorate later, she’s landing a machine on Mars.

United statesHayfield secondary schoolNordrhein westfalenFairfax countyWest virginiaLarry jamesFrank drakeJill maluskySwati mohanMassachusetts institute of technologyNational science foundationPropulsion laboratory in pasadenaJohn battle high schoolGreen bankGreen bank radio astronomy observatoryJet propulsion laboratory