Jennifer Harris Trosper is an American aerospace engineer 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 ...

. During her 30-year career at JPL, Trosper has occupied crucial positions in engineering management pertaining to every spacecraft that has traversed the

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celes ...

surface. Because of her leadership and engineering expertise, Trosper has appeared on broadcast media outlets as an authority in development and execution of missions to Mars.

Early years and education

Jennifer Trosper grew up in

Fostoria, Ohio Fostoria (, ) is a city located at the convergence of Hancock, Seneca, and Wood counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,046 at the 2020 Census, slightly down from 13,441 at the 2010 Census. It is ap ...

and graduated from Elmwood High School in

Bloomdale, Ohio Bloomdale is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Wood County, Ohio, Wood County, Ohio, United States. The population was 665 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Bloomdale had its start when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroa ...

. She received degrees in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) and the University of Southern California (MS).

Career

Positions held at JPL have included: *

Cassini mission Cassini may refer to: People * Cassini (surname) * Oleg Cassini (1913–2006), American fashion designer Cassini family: * Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712), Italian mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer * Jacques Cassini ...

– Attitude control operations engineer *

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' was an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a rover (space exploration), roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a Lander (spacecraft), lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a ligh ...

mission – Testbed and operations engineer and flight director *

2001 Mars Odyssey ''2001 Mars Odyssey'' is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectro ...

missions – Operations development manager *

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

s – Project system engineer and mission manager *

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on Augus ...

and

Curiosity rover ''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover Space exploration, exploring Gale (crater), Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ...

– Deputy project manager and mission manager * Mars 2020 ''Perseverance'' (rover) – Mission system development manager, project systems engineering lead, integrated systems engineering lead, and project manager

Scientific presentations and media

Conferences

Podcasts

* Driven to Mars (December 20, 2021)

Radio and television

* Jennifer Trosper from Jet Propulsion Lab (October 22, 2014),

KHTS (AM) KHTS (1220 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station that is licensed to the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, about north of Los Angeles. The station is owned by Jeri Lyn Broadcasting (formerly Saddleback Broadcasting). K ...

Santa Clarita, CA Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...

* LA Influential: Still Reaching For The Stars – Jennifer Trosper (November 14, 2017),

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios at the ...

Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

* NASA project lead talks success of ''Perseverance'' landing on Mars and what's next (February 19, 2021), ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' * Roving with ''Perseverance'': Findings from one year on Mars (February 17, 2022), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series Select appearances on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

have included: * Mars ''Spirit'' Rover Landing Status (January 3, 2004) * Mars Rover Missions: Crew Experiences (January 3, 2005) * Mars ''Curiosity'' Rover Mission Update (August 8, 2012) * End of Mission for Mars Exploration Rover ''Opportunity'' (February 13, 2019) * NASA News Conference on Landing of Mars Rover ''Perseverance'' (February 18, 2021)

Videos

* ''Curiosity'' Rover Report: A Taste of

Mount Sharp Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons (), is a mountain on Mars. It forms the central peak within Gale crater and is located around , rising high from the valley floor. Its ID in the United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenc ...

(September 25, 2014). NASA Science – Mars Exploration

Feature film

Good Night Oppy ''Good Night Oppy'' is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Ryan White and narrated by Angela Bassett. It had its world premiere at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival on September 3, 2022. It was released in a limited release on November ...

– On-screen participant in the 2022 feature-length documentary that tells the story of Mars rovers, ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity'', and their respective 6- and 14-year exploration of the Martian surface.

Awards and recognition

* 12485 jenniferharris (1997 GO1) – An asteroid in the

main asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

that was discovered on April 7, 1997, by the NEAT program at the

Haleakalā Observatory The Haleakalā Observatory, also known as the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory Site, is Hawaii's first astronomical research observatory. It is located on the island of Maui and is owned by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Ha ...

. It was named for Jennifer Harris Trosper who was flight director for Mars ''Pathfinder'' when it landed on July 4, 1997. * Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2001), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. * NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Fellow (2013) – "For exceptional leadership and technical expertise in mission operations development and execution for missions to the Martian surface".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trosper, Jennifer Harris Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of Southern California alumni 21st-century American women scientists NASA people Women aerospace engineers American aerospace engineers Fellows of Jet Propulsion Laboratory