MiMi Aung could barely contain her excitement as she drove up Oak Grove Drive, the leafy thoroughfare leading to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Aun

Before Ingenuity ever landed on Mars, scientists almost managed to kill it

submited by
Style Pass
2024-02-12 12:30:08

MiMi Aung could barely contain her excitement as she drove up Oak Grove Drive, the leafy thoroughfare leading to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Aung had spent her formative years in Burma and Malaysia, two countries without a space program. A career in aerospace seemed beyond her reach. Yet here she was, at 22 years old, with a job interview to possibly work on the Deep Space Network. Aung dreamed of helping NASA intercept and amplify faint signals sent back to Earth from humanity's farthest-flung spacecraft, including the Voyagers.

On that day in 1990, the math-loving engineer interviewed with prospective managers and visited facilities in the lab. It felt like home immediately. An energetic and enthusiastic person by nature, Aung spoke rapidly and asked a million questions. "You're like a kid in a candy store," one of the managers remarked. She was. Aung couldn't help herself. More than anywhere in the world, this is where she wanted to be.

She got the job. Over the next quarter of a century, Aung would work on the Deep Space Network and various other programs. Eventually, she became a manager, supervising the Guidance, Navigation & Control systems that help fly spacecraft.

Leave a Comment