KOHLHASE: “Let’s see – Ranger, Mariners 2, 4, 6 and 7,
Viking, Voyager, Cassini, and some of the recent Mars
missions (Mars Exploration Rovers) – 10 missions or so. One
of the Ranger missions might have been marginal.”
RS: Have you played a role in the Equinox or Solstice
Mission extensions to the Cassini programme since 2008?
KOHLHASE: “No, I came off the programme
soon after launch. I arranged it so that I
could officially retire in May 1998.”
RS: You didn’t really retire, though, did you?
KOHLHASE: “I have continued to consult at JPL
until about 6 months ago. My latest work in 2013
was continuing to support the Mars Sample
Return Campaign, as special senior advisor, by
completing a major risk assessment study for the
three missions comprising the campaign. And I’m
sure I’ll get another invitation soon to go in and
give an opinion on something, so I’m not quite
dead … just fading away slowly!” (Laughs)
RS: Fifty-five years and still at the cutting
edge of planetary exploration - that’s
a wonderful career, Charley!
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the Kennedy Space Centre
Kohlhase (left) and Cassini Programme Manager, Richard Spehalski, hold the
DVD containing 616,400 digitized signatures of people from 81 countries which
was sent to Saturn on board Cassini, seen behind them. Charley designed the
disk with the flags of 28 nations and symbolic golden eagle wing feathers.
Credit: NASA/JPL
on. How much harder was it for you and your team to
plan, given the greater complexity of the spacecraft?
KOHLHASE: “It was more complicated
because there were more interfaces between
the instruments and the spacecraft.
“However, no matter how complex it may be,
there are four secrets to working in this job. You have
to be well-educated - you have to understand the
physics, the math, the engineering, and of course
the astronomy. You also need to be able to simplify. If
you have a problem you reduce it to the two or three
elements which really matter, using first principles that
you’ve learned over time. You must also have absolute
integrity. Never hide a problem. Share it immediately
with the team to solve it. And finally, you must have a
sense of humour! You might have a terrible problem,
but you don’t just wring your hands. It’s good to laugh
about it to break the ice, then get on and solve it.
“So – education, ability to simplify, integrity and
humour – those are the four secrets to success.”
RS: Talking of success, you have had a hand
in many missions to the Moon and other
planets during your time at JPL, and they’ve
all been successful. That’s quite a record!
KOHLHASE: “It is, but, you know, today the
environment is what I really care about the most.
There’s simply no greater problem. We should all
be stewards of the Earth, not its destroyers.”
RS: How can space exploration help us in this respect?
KOHLHASE: “We have a lot of Earth-orbiting satellites
tracking the loss of biodiversity, natural resources
and climate changes, but I don’t see politicians
using that data to make any difference, we don’t
have anybody with the courage to use it. We
are consuming natural resources at five times the
rate at which the Earth can replace them.”
RS: Are you optimistic about the future
of our global environment?
KOHLHASE: “As I get older, one of the few things
that I can take some joy in is that I live in one of the
last great eras for the Earth. For my grandchildren
and their children, though, I think it’ll be a severely
reduced Earth. I’m basically an optimistic person, but
I think that we won’t act in time to save the Earth.”
RS: Do you have any final advice for how
each of us should live our lives?
KOHLHASE: “Rise early and seize each day. Learn
much and use this knowledge well. Spend time
with those you love. Never abuse your pets. Use
logic to fight the irrational, for it is everywhere.
Defend the environment and its wildlife. Meld
mind and heart for greatest creativity. Follow your
dreams, and become all that you can be.”
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