How many jobs did the Mars landing create?
As the new rover that just landed on Mars looks for signs
of life there, the NASA program that runs it is supporting life here on Earth
-- with jobs.
NASA spokesman Guy Webster said the rover, named
Curiosity, is currently supporting about 700 people, but has supported 7,000
jobs at various times over the last eight years. The Curiosity project and its
$2.5 billion budget has generated jobs not just at NASA but at companies
ranging from Lockheed Martin to a bicycle manufacturer in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"People wonder about throwing money at Mars, [but]
no money was spent on Mars," said Webster. "There are no ATMs up
there. All the money was spent here on Earth."
He said there are currently up to 400 NASA employees
working on the project, in addition to 300 scientists outsourced by the
government agency.
The purpose of Curiosity is to study the red planet and
send information back to Earth. Unlike earlier Mars rovers, Webster said that
Curiosity is equipped with chemical analysis technology "to accomplish
very bold science goals to asses whether Mars ever offered conditions favorable
to microbial life."
NASA is currently downsizing and laying off thousands of
workers. But since the inception of Curiosity eight years ago, Webster said
that about 3,000 NASA employees have worked on the project, in addition to
about 4,000 non-government workers from various companies.
Rocket design company United Launch Alliance has
benefited the most in terms of job creation, said Webster. Some 1,500 jobs were
supported by the creation of Curiosity's launch vehicle, which is what
propelled it into space.
Other large companies involved in the process include
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Alliant Techsystems, which specialize in aerospace projects and well as military weapons
technology.
Webster said that Aerojet of GenCorp. (GY) in Sacramento,
Calif., made the engines that will lower the rover during the final seconds
before landing.
General Dynamics made the deep space
transponder allowing the rover to communicate with NASA, while Pioneer
Aerospace Corp. made the parachute that helps the craft descend for landing
through the Martian atmosphere.
Emcore Corp., based in Albuquerque, designed the solar
panels that provide the spacecraft with electricity during its flight from
Earth to Mars. Litespeed, a Chattanooga-based company that makes
bicycles, including bikes with titanium frames, made the titanium tubing for
the rover's mobility systems, serving as braces between the wheels. Webster
said the business relationship between NASA and Litespeed was sparked by a NASA
engineer who also happens to be a biking enthusiast.
Brad DeVaney, director of production development for
Litespeed, a 35-employee company owned by American Bicycle Group, said that
titanium is an ideal metal to serve as the chassis and suspension system for
the Mars rover because it's highly resistant to corrosion.
This isn't the first time Litespeed has worked on space
technology. DeVaney said the company had previously worked with the University
of California, Berkeley to design and build an exercise bike to be used in a
weightless environment.
"It was sort of a cross-over between space and
biking," he said. The $2.5 billion budget allocated for the Curiosity
project will continue to keep the program going for the next two years, said
Webster.
There have been numerous Mars landings of unmanned craft
since the original Viking expedition in the 1970s, when two stationary modules
landed on the red planet, supported by two additional unmanned craft that
orbited Mars.
The first rover, called Sojourner, landed in 1997. It was
the size of a toaster oven, compared to Curiosity, which weighs a ton. Two
other rovers -- Spirit and Opportunity -- landed in 2004. They were designed to
function for three months, but Spirit lasted six years and Opportunity is still
functioning, said Webster.
"NASA has had a continuous robotic presence on Mars
since the arrival of Sojourner in 1997," he said.
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