RocketSTEM Issue #6 - March 2014 | Page 54

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? www.RocketSTEM.org