Sojourner: An Insider's View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.42 (996 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0425191990 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-07-30 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In 1997 he received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. Andrew Mishkin has been a key player in NASA's robotic program for the past 15 years. He joined the Sojourner rover team at its formation, eventually leading the rover operations team and commanding the rover during its exploration of Mars.
"A Valuable Resource" according to Frederick Sonnichsen. Like other books concerning the space program (e.g."Moon Hunters") this book is an interesting historical document concerning some of JPL's remarkable accomplishments. In addition however, the author provides valuable technical insights into the unique thinking, problem solving, and development obstacles which scientists and engineers encounter when exploring remote areas of our world and universe. From a project management perspective, Mishkin has demonstrated how issues over team dynamics, perso. David J. Atkinson said Inaccuracy and disparaging remarks about key contributors. I was also present during the early days of robotics at JPL and witnessed some of the events described by Mishkin. I have worked with Andy Mishkin in the past and share his enthusiasm for our exploratiion of Mars. I must take issue, however, with his characterization of the contributions of Dr. David P. Miller and Dr. Rajiv Desai to the advent of micro-rovers at JPL. I am also saddened by his imperceptive and self-serving observations of their motives and personalities. I agree that the team of wh. Michael J. Edelman said Fascinating technical detail marred by some petty personal disputes. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book. On the technical side, I find myself fascinated by the depth of detail Mishkin goes into regarding the technical aspects of the lander, the rovers, the problems they encountered, and how they solved them. It's easy to get the impression from news stories that a rover like Sojourner is not that much more complicated than an R/C car, but building and programing a device that can be launched on a year-long journey, land, and explore another planet- auto
Mishkin himself discovered a potentially fatal error shortly before launch: a wrong parameter in the computer clock would have woken Sojourner in the middle of the night instead of in the morning, but the robot needed sunlight to function. Mishkin, senior systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the rover was developed, chronicles the years of trial and error to create a vehicle that would be the right size for the Pathfinder lander and could withstand the temperature extremes on the Martian surface while maneuvering around rocks without getting stuck or driving over the edge of an abyss. It takes 40 minutes for a signal to travel from Mars to Earth and back, so JPL scientists had to make the rover's navigational system
With witty, compelling anecdotes, he describes the clash of temperamental geniuses, the invention of a new work ethic, the turf wars, the chewing-gum solutions to high-tech problems, the controlled chaos behind the strangely beautiful creation of an artificial intelligence-and the exhilaration of inaugurating the next great age of space exploration. Now, with the touch of an expert thriller writer, Sojourner operations team leader Andrew Mishkin tells the inside, human story of the Mars Pathfinder mission's feverish efforts to build a self-guided, offroading robot to explore the surface of the Red Planet. And millions of people were captivated. Then, six-wheeled Sojourner beamed spectacular pictures of her one-of-a-kind mission back to Earth. Andrew Mis