Miguel San Martín
| Miguel San Martín | |
|---|---|
 Miguel San Martín after a conference in the Asociación Argentina "Amigos de la Astronomía". | |
| Born |
Alejandro Miguel San Martín January 6, 1959 Villa Regina, Río Negro, Argentina |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Fields | engineer |
| Institutions | |
| Known for | Coinventor of the Skycrane system |
| Notable awards | Premio Konex: Diploma al Mérito en Desarrollo Tecnológico, NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal - NASA, Premio Konex de Platino, Magellan Award for Outstanding Senior JPL Management, Best Paper Award -- 23rd AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Conference |
| Spouse | Susan |
| Children | Samantha and Madeleine |
Miguel San Martín (January 6, 1959) is an Argentine engineer of NASA[1] and a science educator.[2] He is best known for his work as Chief Engineer for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control system in the latests missions to the Mars.[3][4] His best known contribution is the SkyCrane system, of which he is coinventor, used in the mission Curiosity for the descent of the rover.[5]
In addition to his work as an engineer, also he is dedicated to give presentations about the work he does with his team at NASA. He participated as a speaker at various events such as Campus Party, Robotics Day,[6] Real Talks Atlanta[7][8] and TEDx Río de la Plata[9] among other conferences.[10][11] He is featured in the NASA video "Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror", among other Curiosity engineers.[12]
Early life and career
He left Argentina after he graduated from industrial school, and then went to the United States to get a degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, being named Engineering Student of the Year.[5] He completed his Master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[13]
In various interviews he said that he decided that he wanted to be a space engineer on a winter's night in 1976 at his parent's farm, while he listened to the BBC on short wave reporting the arrival of the Viking mission to Mars.[13]
He stated working for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1985,[1] where he participated in the missions Magellan to Venus and Cassini to Saturn. Later in the Pathfinder mission he was named Chief Engineer for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control system, which landed Sojourner. In the same role he was part of the missions for Spirit and Opportunity in 2004, and Mars Science Laboratory, which landed the rover Curiosity on the surface of Mars.[6] He helped to develop the SkyCrane system to land Curiosity on the surface of Mars, and with his team at JPL he also worked on the software for the landing.[13] He is a member of the NASA National Engineering and Safety Center.[1]
Awards
- 1998, 2013: NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal[1]
- 2004: NASA Exceptional Service Medal[1]
- 2007: NASA Group Achievement Award[14]
- 2013: Outstanding Engineering Achievement Merit Award - The Engineers' Council
- 2013: Collier Trophy for the Curiosity Team - National Aeronautic Association
- 2013: National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement - Smithsonian Institution
- 2013: Premio Konex: Diploma al Mérito en Desarrollo Tecnológico - La Fundación Konex[1]
- 2013: Premio Konex de Platino: Desarrollo Tecnológico - La Fundación Konex[1]
- 2013: Magellan Award for Outstanding Senior JPL Management - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- 2013: NASA Group Achievement Award: MSL Guidance, Navigation, and Control System Team
- 2013: NASA Group Achievement Award: MSL Entry, Descent, and Landing Team
- 2013: NASA Group Achievement Award: MSL Project Operations Team
- 2013: JPL Fellow - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory[15]
- 2013: Best Paper Award: 23rd AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Conference - AAS/AIAA[16]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Miguel San Martín". fundacionkonex.org (in Spanish). Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "El argentino en la NASA charlará sobre los "desafíos para aterrizar en Marte"". telam.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "THE MARTIAN CHRONICLERS". newyorker.com. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Miguel San Martín y la conexión con el futuro". lanacion.com.ar. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
- 1 2 "Miguel San Martin". nasa.gov. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
- 1 2 "Miguel San Martin". roboticsday.org. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Real Talks - About". realtalksatlanta.com. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "PUSHING BOUNDARIES - NOVEMBER 14, 2012". realtalksatlanta.com. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Miguel San Martin". tedxriodelaplata.org (in Spanish). Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Miguel San Martin". researchgate.net. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "The MSL Entry Controller" (PDF). space-flight.org. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror". jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- 1 2 3 "The Argentine Responsible for a Successful Mars Landing". pri.org. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ↑ "AWARDS". jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "JPL and Professional Society Fellows". jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Best Paper Awards". space-flight.org. Retrieved November 1, 2016.