I promised more a couple days ago on the link between the Mars Phoenix rover and Georgia Tech.  This is of particular interest to me because I would LOVE to get involved in this industry, even as a marketing/management guy.

The second-in-command on the Phoenix project is David Spencer, a 17 year veteran of the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.  After the Mars Phoenix project winds down, Spencer packs his bags and heads to Atlanta to join the School of Aerospace Engineering as a faculty member.  At Tech they’ll be starting a Center for Space Systems, where students get hands-on experience with space systems and flight project work.  If you want to see what Spencer’s role is on the Phoenix project, check this out.  Spencer also ran Deep Impact, where a probe was crashed into a comet.

It’ll be cool to have someone like David at Georgia Tech, where we’ve produced several astronauts (including Doug Wheelock, who I got to see take off on STS-120 last October).  Welcome, David – looking forward to having you in Georgia.  If you read this, email me – I’d love to pick your brain on how non-AE students can get involved in some of the projects you guys are doing this.

Colin