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Meet the Drivers Behind NASA's Mars Rovers

Posted by Zonk on from the best-game-ever dept.

StonyandCher writes "Scott Maxwell must have one of the best IT jobs in the solar system, driving NASA's Mars Rovers. Behind every robot is a driver. He's one of 14 Rover Drivers that work in NASA's California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Maxwell discusses what makes up an average work day, the highlights of the project, how he got the job, and the tools he uses in his work. A great look at the team of dedicated IT workers behind the robots, plotting the every move of NASA's twin robot geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, since they first landed on Mars at the start of 2004."

67 comments

  1. Anonymous Coward and no javascript by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cannot browse the slashdot anymore.

  2. Women Drivers? by coolmoose25 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are there any female drivers and if there are, do they do their makeup in the rear view mirror while driving? (ducking and running for cover)

    --
    Brawndo: It's what plants crave!
    1. Re:Women Drivers? by mindlar · · Score: 1

      Yes, some of the rover drivers are female. Unfortunately there are no rear view mirrors on the rover. And yes, they are good looking.

    2. Re:Women Drivers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately there are no rear view mirrors on the rover. And yes, they are good looking.

      Yes, we know the rovers are, but what about the women drivers?

    3. Re:Women Drivers? by megaditto · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      I'd hit it.

      On a separate note, for several months they've been driving one of the rovers in reverse, with the left blinker on.

      --
      Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
    4. Re:Women Drivers? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Are there any female drivers and if there are, do they do their makeup in the rear view mirror while driving?

      And us guys crash watching them put on lip-gloss.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re:Women Drivers? by ScottMaxwell · · Score: 3, Informative

      Are there any female drivers


      Three: Ashley Stroupe, Tara Estlin, and Julie Townsend.

      Incidentally, they're all terrific speakers as well; if you get a chance to go to one of their talks, don't miss it.

      Also, an unofficial trainee for the MER rover-driver role is Sharon Laubach, who also worked on the first-ever Mars rover, Sojourner (the Mars Pathfinder rover). Sharon's doing this unofficially because officially she's our boss, but she's awesome at it and loves doing it, so we give her a turn now and then. :-)

      and if there are, do they do their makeup in the rear view mirror while driving? (ducking and running for cover)


      Ahem. Ask them in person sometime, and see what happens.

      Luckily for you, they all have good senses of humor, so you're reasonably likely to escape with your life. Bear in mind that Julie does karate, though. ;-)
      --

      ``Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators.'' -- Richard Dawkins
    6. Re:Women Drivers? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      and if there are, do they do their makeup in the rear view mirror while driving? (ducking and running for cover)

      Ahem. Ask them in person sometime, and see what happens.

      Luckily for you, they all have good senses of humor, so you're reasonably likely to escape with your life. Bear in mind that Julie does karate, though. ;-)
      --
      ``Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators.'' -- Richard Dawkins


      Sounds to me like someone is cruising for a (neo-)Darwin award.
      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. All fine and good but.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can I print in duplex with these drivers?

    That's all I want to know.

  4. Oh by niceone · · Score: 3, Funny

    That sort of driver.

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
    1. Re:Oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some say he has a third nipple, but doesn't keep it on his person.
      Others would have you believe that he is schizophrenic, and talks to himself from two seconds in the future.
      All we know, is he's called the stig.

  5. In soviet russia... by brentonboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Martian robots drive YOU!

    1. Re:In soviet russia... by ravenspear · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Korea, robotic overlords drive over old people.....while fucking natalie portman.

  6. No tailgating by Frequency+Domain · · Score: 4, Funny

    Normal safe driving recommends the "2 second rule". These guys have to allow, what, 20 minutes?

    1. Re:No tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are all from Florida, right?

    2. Re:No tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      No headlights, no indicators, a stuck wheel and no spare, millions of miles to the next garage and coworkers who want to stop all the time to take thousands of pictures: tailgating is the least of their problems.

    3. Re:No tailgating by AeroIllini · · Score: 1

      2 full seconds? At highway speeds that's like 20 car-lengths.

      75 mph * 2 seconds = 110 f/s * 2s = 220 feet

      Methinks you might have trouble staying almost a full football field behind anyone. The rule I heard was 1 car length for each 10 mph you are traveling, but even that seems like a bit much at higher speeds, especially in congested areas.

      Back on topic, I sure wish my car had the same amount of automation as the Mars Rovers. I could just type in "work" to the GPS, the autopilot takes over, and I nap on the way there.

      --
      For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
    4. Re:No tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the driver in front of you slams on the brakes, you have the "time between your cars" to react and also slam on the brakes. If it takes you longer, you're guaranteed to hit the car in front of you unless you have significantly better brakes/grip. 2 seconds is about right, if you include the possibility that the driver in front doesn't brake in time, hits something and stops faster than just with his brakes. Most people don't even once make the calculations and simply luck out. The relatively few who learn the meaning of the numbers in real life hopefully have an airbag and insurance.

    5. Re:No tailgating by rossdee · · Score: 1

      Fortunately traffic on Mars is fairly light, the two rovers have the whole planet to themselves.

    6. Re:No tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2 full seconds? At highway speeds that's like 20 car-lengths.

      Yeah, 2 full whole complete seconds. Gosh. It's like we care about safety or something.

      Methinks you might have trouble staying almost a full football field behind anyone.

      It's not hard. You just don't press so hard on the pedal on the right. With a little practice, anybody can learn to control the speed of their car.

      The rule I heard was 1 car length for each 10 mph you are traveling, but even that seems like a bit much at higher speeds, especially in congested areas.

      60mph = 6 car lengths = 6 * 13' (say) = 78'. 78'/60mph = 0.89 seconds. If something happens, you have less than 9/10ths of a second to respond. It's about even money whether a human can respond that quick; it's certain, though, that you can't make a car respond that quick.

      I'd never ride in a car with somebody who drives as recklessly as that. If I saw a nut like you tailgating me, I'd get the hell out of the way. Thankfully we don't tend to have drivers like that around here.

    7. Re:No tailgating by nobaloney · · Score: 1
      Back on topic, I sure wish my car had the same amount of automation as the Mars Rovers. I could just type in "work" to the GPS, the autopilot takes over, and I nap on the way there.

      Did you read the article? If you had you would have known there's no automation at all; you must have been thinking of the TV show a year or two ago that showed a car that was supposed to be as intelligent as the Mars Rovers escape and started doing it's own thing.

      After only one meeting with the Rover drivers, I still couldn't help but laugh out loud at what that car could do.

    8. Re:No tailgating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or so we think.......

  7. does he have triple A? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    what are the gas prices on mars?

    which gps unit works best on mars?

    how does he change the windshield fluid?

    ok, i'll shut up now...

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:does he have triple A? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Guess what, they can't buy any muffler bearings or blinker fluid either!

  8. Good job, Scott & Company by flaming+error · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > We make sure that the commands we're sending to the Rover
      > will do the right thing in the face of all imaginable
      > contingencies. We review this final cut at the day's
      > commands -- twice!

    They're obviously getting this done damn well, to keep these machines going so long after their expiration date. These JPL folks do NASA and humanity a great credit.

    Kudos.

    1. Re:Good job, Scott & Company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. Good job, all.
      Though, given the current political situation and likely course in the United States, I just hope that future historians aren't writing that rovers were the swan song of the United States as an advanced people.

    2. Re:Good job, Scott & Company by ScottMaxwell · · Score: 1

      They're obviously getting this done damn well, to keep these machines going so long after their expiration date. These JPL folks do NASA and humanity a great credit.


      On behalf of my team: thanks! And they really are the smartest, most dedicated, all-around finest group of folks I have ever had the pleasure to work with. The whole project is like that; it's the experience of a lifetime, and I'm loving every minute of it.

      --

      ``Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators.'' -- Richard Dawkins
  9. I ponder by moogied · · Score: 1
    Does he get an insurance break here on earth?

    "Dude, I've been driving a martian rover for over 10 times its orginal design.. NO ACCIDENTS. Come onnnn!"

    P.S. Sorry for turning him into a drunken 20 year old in that quote.

    --
    So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
  10. Bent brush by Cally · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So... who bent the brush? ;)

    --
    "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
    1. Re:Bent brush by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Who bent the brush?

      I find a bigger puzzle in the article: "In late 2006, Opportunity's rock grinder, or rock abrasion tool (RAT), stalled during a grind because an encoder had stopped working. Engineers fixed the problem by writing software to operate the tool without data from the encoder. "So we [have been] able to grind successfully with the device since then," Callas says...Spirit's grinder encoder also stopped working recently, forcing the rover team to implement a similar software fix."

      Spirit's rock grinder's diamond heads were all worn out I thought last year. Thus, I thought it could no longer grind at all, only use the rotating brush on rocks. Maybe they mean they applied the same fix to the brush.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Bent brush by Cally · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You're correct. The rocks where Opportunity is are mostly soft sedimentary sandstones. Spirit's got lots of volcanic basalt. Hence one RAT is (was) still grinding whilst the other, isn't.

      --
      "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
  11. Eureka! by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, and the first hints of that [water-linked] silica-rich material were turned up by the trenches we dug as we dragged our broken wheel around. Without that hardware failure, Spirit wouldn't have realised one of its greatest successes!

    Are they gonna patent their Trench-A-Matic?

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  12. Re:IT? by mcspoo · · Score: 1

    A Truck driver WOULD be an IT worker if the steering system of his/her truck running through a computer that's worth more than the gross national product of many small countries. Alas, they don't... yet... Relying on Windows to point your vehicle in a direction at any speed is a frightening thought. Ford seems to be moving in this direction with the SYNC system, so it's not so far into the future. "Truck, turn left" "Turning right into Jiffy Lube."

  13. What?!? No .Net ?!? by Black-Man · · Score: 5, Funny

    Java, Python, Perl and Shell scripts are used to program this thing? I just can't understand a development team shunning XP Pro and .NET. The shelf life was suppose to be 1 year - isn't that about right for a .Net application before permanent and complete failure??

    1. Re:What?!? No .Net ?!? by fbjon · · Score: 1

      90 days, wasn't it? VB6 is almost adequate.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    2. Re:What?!? No .Net ?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, okay, keep bragging it's still the only damn peripheral on earth with Linux drivers, oh, wait...

  14. I, for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    salute our California-based Drivers.

  15. DUI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, i wonder if they can get busted for driving under the influence ?

  16. Maxwell interviews on Digital Village by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Digital Village interviewed Maxwell in Sept. 2004 and again in March of this year.

  17. Pan-Galactic Traffic Citation by hullabalucination · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dear Motorist:

    You have received this traffic citation, on this sol of 13 Smoogna, 1126, issued by the city of Oxia Palus in the county of Planitia, Mars, for the following indicated violations.

    __ Following too closely to a boulder.

    __ Failure to light headlamps within 5 sols of sundown.

    __ Parallel parking on inside slope of crater.

    __ Driving in planet-wide reduced visibility conditions without running lights.

    __ Failure to signal turn to JPL.

    You will find information on the back of this form concerning fees and places to pay your fine. Thank you, and remember: "Unsafe driving will make your fellow Martian motorists see red."

  18. Should have just used LOGO to drive them... by PainBreak · · Score: 5, Funny

    Forward 4000 Wait 2400 Left 80 Wait 2400 Shit...where's my turtle? Guys?...

  19. Where are the specs? by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe your drivers are ok, but until specs are released, I'm not buying any NASA Mars rovers. The Taiwanese rovers are good enough, and Theo's team have come up with drivers for them, that we can trust.

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  20. How they were trained : Racing Destruction Set by UberHoser · · Score: 1

    God I loved that game. Set the gravity to like Io and omfg !!!!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_Destruction_Set

    --
    Guns are for wimps... Use a crossbow.. this way you can pin them to their chair when you go postal.
  21. uh oh by BigBadBus · · Score: 1

    Will these drivers work with Vista or do we have to wait for more M$ patches?

    --
    My web domain.
  22. Must have the derisive snort down pat by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    So what is their reaction whenever they see 'Performed by professional driver in a closed course' in any car ad?

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  23. Why 14? by f97tosc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why do you need 14 drivers for 2 rovers?

    1. Re:Why 14? by pez4realz · · Score: 0

      Because NASA fired Cole Trickle due to "reckless endangerment" of the entire Mars Rover team.

      --
      Have you payed your dues jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail.
    2. Re:Why 14? by ScottMaxwell · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why do you need 14 drivers for 2 rovers?
      We have at least two rover drivers per rover per day, so in theory, we could get by with as few as four -- as long as nobody takes vacation or gets sick. However, almost all of the rover drivers are part-timers on MER; for career and funding reasons, most people want to have multiple irons in the fire, so we tend to work on more than one project. (And that includes me, though I sometimes wish it didn't. In addition to being the rover driver team lead on MER, I work on ATHLETE and Mars Science Laboratory, and I worked on Phoenix until recently. ATHLETE and MSL are awfully cool rovers, but even so, I miss the days when I worked full-time on MER.)

      Also, about a third of the people included in that count don't actually work on MER any more, though they're sometimes called in to consult on tricky days or for anomaly investigations.

      --

      ``Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators.'' -- Richard Dawkins
  24. Re:IT? by iiii · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since when is Aerospace Engineer or Scientist an IT job?

    Scott is an IT guy.

    I think that being the author of "Linux Core Kernel Commentary" , "the most in-depth guide to the core code of the linux kernel", which was review here on slashdot, gives him a smidge of tech credibility.

    And you, mister Anonymous Coward, do you have any similar publications?

    --
    Light cup, beer drink, thin so chain, neck turtle fat, man I won't say it again
  25. Re:IT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so which part of New England are you from?

  26. This guy is not IT, don't insult him like that. by StickyWidget · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This guy is not IT, don't insult him like that. This was an systems engineering job, taking many different disciplines like mechanical design, controls, computer programming, networking, electrical engineering, and computations/algorithms and rolling it into one. Now, he seems like more of an operations engineer, as he is running what is essentially operations, support, and maintenance for the rover. NOT IT.

    Don't kid yourselves, IT is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to tech jobs. The vast majority of IT workers debug problems with Windows security profiles, or check that a port is open on a firewall, or make sure that some top level manager can view his porn through the corporate Web filters. Higher level IT jobs involve putting in a network switch, or maybe making a web site to streamline a business process. Half the network engineers I meet don't know what negative voltage is, and most of the programmers look at assembler and see gibberish. Trained monkeys could do the job if they didn't throw $hit everywhere.

    This guy is not a code monkey, he is not a TCP/IP whore, he's an engineer and a scientist. He works on systems that would make an IT guy say, "I only know how to configure Cisco, I don't know how to do that". Or maybe "You can make code turn wheels at a certain speed? WOW!".

    Best learn it now, IT (non-management of course) in 5 years is going to be one step above assembly line worker, designated paper pusher, and secretary.

    ~Sticky
    /Go ahead, mod it down. It doesn't make it any less true.

    1. Re:This guy is not IT, don't insult him like that. by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      Oooh, a professional troll.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  27. You're right by ScottMaxwell · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I *do* have a great job ... and I also read Slashdot. :-)

    --

    ``Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators.'' -- Richard Dawkins
  28. Re:IT? by ucblockhead · · Score: 1

    He is the author of "Frist POst!!!!1", 5:03 AM PST August 24, 2001.

    --
    The cake is a pie
  29. Almost as cool, but far better at parties... by bughunter · · Score: 4, Funny
    I was at a party recently and met John Callas, the MER Program Manager.

    I shouldn't have tried to outdo him by bragging to the hostess that I was the only real "rocket scientist" present. (I build target missiles that get shot down by the MDA.)

    A short while later, John used his cellphone to impress a young lady who wandered over to chat him up. He opened up his Razr and showed her how he gets 12-hour updates from each of the rovers via SMS, complete with maps.

    The dude gets texted from Mars four times a day.

    I had to concede.

    --
    I can see the fnords!
    1. Re:Almost as cool, but far better at parties... by ianalis · · Score: 1

      I wonder what the lady's reaction is. I'm working on telemicroscopy and I can control a microscope through phone (SMS, MMS, 2.5G/3G) and other interfaces. Would doing that mean my cold nights are over? :)

  30. Mars Time Wristwatch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    They had wall clocks at JPL set to mars time, and they even modified wrist watches to keep mars time.
    http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13372

    I think that these can still be ordered, if you want a really unique geek Christmas gift.

  31. The drivers are Dutch by Arrawa · · Score: 1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_iPvUWyzhE

  32. Re:IT? by mstahl · · Score: 2, Funny

    And you, mister Anonymous Coward, do you have any similar publications?

    As you can see, he is the most prolific of all slashdot users.

  33. Donuts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to see the mars rover ghost riding the whip and doing donuts, that would surely increase nasa's visibility.

  34. the drivers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Behind every robot is a driver. rofl autonomous vehicle? we're talking serial port drivers, in that case? ;)
  35. Now, what makes me think... by rholland356 · · Score: 1

    Now, what makes me think that you each went home alone after that party?

    Those Mars rover drivers like to play tricks on each other, trying to sneak in some instructions in the other guys' files, to make the rover crash into rocks or dive over an outcrop. It's gotten so bad that they hold peer reviews and trial runs before the data is sent to the robots.

    Ah, but it's a tough job, too. On one hand you are happy to have work, on the other, you hate those little rovers and wish they'd give up and die already. What's the next career step for a bot driver, if bots aren't going to the moon?

    By the way, you don't want to get behind these guys in traffic. They were hired because they actually drive like that...

  36. Wet dream... by Lindus · · Score: 1

    I am sorry but these women are every geek's wetdream. They're intelligent, goodlooking and have fabulous jobs. The envy quotient for many of us is immeasurable. Their partners/husbands et. al better be good to these women or we'll take them "around the corner" to beat some sense into them. :)

        All in all it is absolutely great these women are so successful in these areas of science that has for a long time been seen as an old boys club. Kudos to them and let's hope they'll have more prosperous careers going forward.

    With hopes they all have a great time, /Lindus

  37. Re:IT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What I'd like to know is when was term "technology" redefined to relate only to IT related fields? An engineer has no tech credibility, eh? I guess I didn't get the memo...