Kim Lichtenberg has been ‘working on Mars’ as a student and as a scientist and engineer for three Martian rovers.
Photo: Brenden Clark
Kim Lichtenberg spends her days
sampling Martian soil and rocks
Interview by Ken Kremer
RocketSTEM spoke with Dr.
Kimberly Lichtenberg, a scientist
and engineer who works on NASA’s
Mars rover missions at NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, Calif., in conjunction
with our “Women in Aerospace”
series.
We spoke about her career at
NASA, role models, education
and how she became interested
in space exploration. Indeed she’s
been in love with space virtually
her entire life. Her father, Byron
Lichtenberg was a Space Shuttle
astronaut and an inspiration.
Kim’s current project is NASA’s
52
52
newest Mars surface mission, the
Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory
(MSL) rover which touched down
on the Red Planet on Aug. 6, 2012.
Q:
People are very interested
in what you’re doing at
NASA and on the Mars missions,
in particular as a woman in
aerospace. I’d like to start a little
bit on your background. What got
you excited and motivated about
space and to study science and
engineering?
Kim: I’m actually a little bit of both.
My undergrad is in engineering.
My Master’s and Doctorate are in
science. I have kind of one foot in
one area and one foot in the other.
Q:
Tell us please about where did
you grow up and your father?
Kim: I grew up in New England.
I spent my formative years
up through college between
Massachusetts and Virginia, along
the Mid-Atlantic East Coast up
inside the New England area.
As I mentioned, my dad, Byron
Lichtenberg, was an astronaut. He
went up on STS-9 and STS-45 in 1983
and 1992, respectively.
Q:
Who were your role models
growing up?
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