Jacob (Richard) Matijevic, also known as "Jake" Matijevic, (3 November 1947 – 20 August 2012) was an American

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

of Croatian origin who worked on

Mars Exploration Rovers NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rovers to explore the Martian surface ...

. Dr. Matijevic was involved in developing the ''"

Sojourner A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place. Sojourner may also refer to: People * Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), abolitionist and women's rights activist * Albert Sojourner (1872–1951), member of the Mississippi House of Rep ...

"'', ''" Spirit"'', ''"

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

"'' and ''"

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin , from "careful, diligent, curious", akin to "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals. Curiosity helps Developmental psyc ...

"'' rovers. For his contributions to the rover projects,

named several landmarks on the planet Mars (including ''" Matijevic Hill"'' and ''" Jake Matijevic"'' rock) after him. Matijevic was born and grew up in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and graduated from Mount Carmel High School. In 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

from the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, and, in 1973, earned a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

under the supervision of

Irving Kaplansky Irving Kaplansky (March 22, 1917 – June 25, 2006) was a mathematician, college professor, author, and amateur musician.O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Irving Kaplansky", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St And ...

. In 1981, Matijevic began working at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

(JPL) in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, as a control systems engineer. In 1986, he worked in the

telerobotics Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of semi-autonomous robots from a distance, chiefly using television, wireless networks (like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the Deep Space Network) or tethered connections. It is a combinatio ...

field and later, in 1992, began work with the

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

'' rover. This rover was delivered to Mars by the Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996. Afterwards, Matijevic helped develop the ''" Spirit"'' and ''"

"'' rovers that began exploring Mars in 2004. He also helped develop the ''"

"'' rover that landed on Mars in August 2012, just two weeks before his death. After his death, NASA decided to name a Mars hill, ''" Matijevic Hill"'', encountered by the ''"Opportunity"'' rover, and also a Mars rock, ''" Jake Matijevic"'', encountered by the ''"Curiosity"'' rover, in his honor for his many contributions to the Mars rover projects over the years. PIA16192-MarsCuriosityRover-Target-JakeRock-20120927

PIA16192-MarsCuriosityRover-Target-JakeRock-20120927

References

External links

Mars Curiosity Rover - Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matijevic, Jacob 1947 births 2012 deaths Mars Science Laboratory Mars Exploration Rover mission NASA people American people of Croatian descent Illinois Institute of Technology alumni University of Chicago alumni

See also

References

External links