But finding out that we really are not alone – even if our closest neighbour is a single-celled organism – is when the questions will really begin. The ramifications of such a discovery are likely to be, well, earth-shattering. Third, given our understanding of the conditions that life needs to emerge, it’s the likeliest place in our solar system where we’ll find any traces, even if it’s just at the molecular level. Second, while it looks completely different to the Earth today, our two planets are believed to have formed at roughly at the same time and findings suggest Mars once had saltwater oceans and a thicker atmosphere. If you’ve ever wondered why NASA is so interested in Mars, the answer is three-fold. Three years later, he began to oversee preparations for the Mars Curiosity mission. Thirty-one years later, and after decades of contributing to the fields of remote sensing, electromagnetic theory and space imaging, Charles Elachi was appointed director of JPL. Joining as an intern in 1970, he was immediately hooked. embassy but he had no idea it was part of Caltech until he’d arrived. He’d read about the lab in Lebanon, in a magazine then distributed by the U.S. It was at Caltech that the JPL entered Elachi’s life. Getting offers from both MIT and Caltech, he opted for the latter because, he jokes, when he looked at the map, it was closer to Hollywood.
While crediting encouraging parents and inspiring science teachers for his eventual pursuit of engineering, Elachi first studied in France before undertaking a PhD in America. “I remember hearing about the launch of Sputnik and listening to the transmission of its ‘beeps’ on the radio. “The sky in the Middle East is beautiful and I used to like sleeping outdoors, to look at the stars,” he says, adding that his love of space dates back to childhood. And he still speaks with the faintest trace of a Lebanese accent. citizen, Elachi maintains his ties to the region by serving on the boards of LAU, KAUST and KFUPM. Born and brought up in the central Beka’a and now a U.S. Elachi still radiates pride in the lab’s achievement. One of the most visibly delighted observers that night (around 2.6 billion USD delighted, I imagine), Dr. “Not only that, but the ball has to land straight into a cup. Charles Elachi explains to me, when I ask for a terrestrial analogy. “It’s like hitting a golf ball in Dubai and getting it to land in St. Judging by the elation displayed in the control room the morning of the landing – Curiosity’s final approach was broadcast live over the internet to tens of millions around the world – the whoops of delight must have been audible in downtown Los Angeles. Best of all, it had landed smack in target range. When all 899 kilogrammes of Curiosity touched down on Mars intact after an 8.5 month, 523 million kilometre journey, it did so after managing to decelerate from 21,000 km/h to 0 in just 7 minutes. Just two weeks before my visit, they successfully landed the largest robotic rover ever launched into space. At the right is Curiosity (2012), centre is Sojourner (1997) and left is Mars Exploration (Spirit and Opportunity, 2004).īut then the men and women at the JPL have plenty to smile about. It’s all so jocular and back-thumpingly cheery that I’m soon smiling along and by the time my guide Alan arrives, I’m half expecting to witness a spontaneous outburst of high-fiving. I’m not sure what I expected but certainly nothing quite this collegiate. An off-duty caretaker joins in and drags a couple more passersby into the hubbub. As I wait for my temporary ID to be issued, a 50-something scientist walks over and starts cracking jokes with the laughing receptionist. governmental agency – but aside from a quick check of my name against the list at the main gate (it’s there, thankfully) and a flip through my passport to make sure I’m really me, I’m in, with minimal hassle.
I’m about to enter a reasonably high security area – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, to you and me) is both high-powered research centre and U.S. It’s smiles all around at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory campus in the crumpled beige foothills of San Gabriel, northwest of Pasadena. The Arab world can take equal pride in the landing because it was Lebanese-American, Dr. America’s capability in space was proven this August when a one-tonne plutonium-powered rover successfully landed on Mars.
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