Eleven days ago, the two MarCO spacecraft made history by flying by Mars in support of the InSight lander’s entry-descent-and-landing activities. These two small spacecraft – the smallest ever to fly interplanetary – were not required for InSight success, but provided a real-time relay of EDL data, allowing controllers to observe the “seven minutes of terror” 150 million kilometers away. During this seminar, we’ll discuss the road to flight for the MarCO spacecraft, the lessons learned along the way, and how Michigan components made their way to Mars.

About the Speaker...
Dr. Andrew Klesh is chief engineer of the MarCO interplanetary mission, consisting of the first two CubeSats flying beyond Earth. He also serves as technical lead of the Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration team, working to explore the ice-water interface in arctic, antarctic, and glacial terrain. Previously, he served as PI for the INSPIRE interplanetary CubeSats, and was postdoc & chief engineer of U. Michigan’s Radio Aurora Explorer CubeSat project. Prior to JPL, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at JAXA supporting the Hayabusa and Ikaros missions. He has multiple degrees from the University of Michigan (BSE EE, BSE Aero, MSE Aero, MEng Space Systems, PhD Aero) and volunteers as part of the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory. As a lecturer at Caltech and adjunct professor at Arizona State University, he teaches Space Systems, Electronics for Space Applications, and Macgyver Engineering.