Two Penn State Alums Were Apart of the Mars Landing

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by TSP

[CentreDailyTimes] As the NASA Mars Curiosity rover descended to its historic rendezvous with the red planet, Brian Schratz’s spirits soared.

Then crashed. Then rose. Then fell.

“It was the worst roller coaster ride I’ve ever been on,” he said.

Schratz, 29, was watching anxiously as the entry descent and landing communications lead for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

For two years the Penn State alumnus had worked on making sure Curiosity would transmit real-time entry and landing data, as well as synchronize with three Mars UHF orbiters and NASA and European Space Agency tracking stations about 150 million miles away.

…

“The story is not over,” he said. But gazing back, he credits Penn State’s Student Space Programs Lab and its director, Sven Bilen, for preparing him to help land Curiosity. Baker also said his Penn State education enabled him to make history — an experience he ranks with the births of his two children.

“I’m going to spend the rest of my life coming to grips with how I felt and what we accomplished,” he said. “It’s a dream come true for me.” Full Story HERE