August 6, 2012… just past
midnight...
It was well past my normal
bedtime, but I was determined to
stay awake. The event that was
unfolding on my computer screen
was not unlike many others that I
had experienced in the past. This
knowledge did little to relieve the
tension, or undo the knots in my
stomach. My stress level was tied
directly to the success or failure of
the mission at hand. I remained
riveted to my computer monitor, as
the minutes and seconds ticked by,
hoping for the best, and fearing the
worst.
The mission began on November
26, 2011 with the launch of a
satellite from Cape Canaveral,
Florida. More than eight months
later, after traveling over many
million of miles in space, it was
about to undergo the first of many
challenges: landing on Mars.
Pictured above is NASA’s drawing
depicting the launch of the Mars
Science Laboratory.
My interest in aerospace
technology is far from a passing
one. My 50+ year career as an
electronics engineer has been
devoted to RF (radio frequency)
applications within this exciting
field. As a consultant to a small
microwave electronics company, I
have taken the lead on many such
projects. In this case, my reputation
was on board Odyssey, nearing the
end of a 350 million mile journey
through space, and about to face
the ultimate reliability test.
I had served as the Program
Manager for the proposal, design
and implementation of three critical
microwave modules that were part
of the Terminal Landing Radar
on this mission. Its purpose: to
sense the height of the vehicle as
it approached the surface of the
planet. This component was critical
to the control of the descent and
eventual soft landing of Curiosity,
an exploratory rover, on the surface
of Mars.
With so much on the line, going
“back to the drawing board” is not on
the table. One of the appeals of this
type of work to me is the absence of
failure as an option. Regardless of
how many times I may have borne
such responsibility, the thrill (and
the tension) of the moment are as
great as ever. No matter how much
lab testing and simulation we do,
the proof of the pudding is in the
eating, and at that moment, my
pudding remained untasted.
I was experiencing what NASA
engineers described as the “seven
minutes of terror”, during which
A
Soft Touch
for
Curiosity’s Sake
By Frank Ernandes
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Fall 2013
21
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