Keynote: Global Design for a World on the Go: Lessons from Mars
10:00 am - 10:50 am
Dr. Steven W. Squyres
Scientific Principal Investgator, Mars Exploration Rover Project
In January of 2004, twin robotic explorers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars. Expected to last for 90 days, the two rovers have now been exploring the martian surface for five years. Their objective is to search for evidence of past water on Mars, and to determine if Mars ever had conditions that would have been suitable for life. Recently, Spirit found strong evidence for ancient hot springs on Mars and Opportunity found compelling evidence for long-ago water on Mars.
To develop Spirit and Opportunity, a team of more than 4,000 highly motivated engineers and scientists overcame a host of technical challenges. The challenges were multiplied by an extraordinarily tight schedule that was driven by the motions of the planets. The talk will provide an insight and lessons learned regarding the global design effort that went into creating Spirit and Opportunity: from the initial conception through development, launch, landing, and operations on the surface of Mars.
