Mars Exploration: Zip Code Mars

I work at JPL because I was inspired by Dr. Carl Sagan’s television show Cosmos. While employed at JPL, I met Dr. Sagan and had a chance to have a heart to heart talk, where Dr. Sagan expressed his gratitude that his TV show had inspired someone into the space sciences. I was a mediocre student in school, and the State of California certified that I have a condition known as Dyscalculea, a learning disability involving the most basic aspects of arithmetical skills. Yet I have compensated for this disability by using computers as my crutch. Today, I am the Matrix Mathematics Toolsmith for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and provide the needed software tools that the navigators, scientists and engineers use to fly space missions.

I am married with two adult children, two horses and a cat. I enjoy astronomy, competition Airsoft, and model railroading. I am also a music composer and have created and performed 8 soundtracks for JPL mini-documentaries and in so doing won a Silver Telly award for composition in a non-profit documentary.

Contributions to Mars Exploration

I work very far in the background of mission operations providing multi-mission support for many JPL missions. I manage the day-to-day usage of the important matrix mathematic tools, which are used by the flight teams for spacecraft navigation, entry descent and landing, and general spacecraft operations. [more contributions ...]

Personal Reflections

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I think the most extraordinary moment for me was standing next to the 70-meter Goldstone Deep Space Network antenna as it was actively receiving information from the Spirit Rover. The software I manage was being used at the station for signal analysis, and back at JPL for image processing and power consumption requirements, yet there I stood posing for a picture. [more personal reflections ...]