Mars Rovers with Keri Bean (#14)

<p><strong>Keri Bean</strong> is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She is the deputy lead Rover Planner (aka Mars rover driver) on the Curiosity Mars rover and is a Helicopter Integration Engineer for the Mars 2020 mission. She got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas A&amp;M University in meteorology, with her focus on studying the weather on Mars. Her hobbies mostly center around Star Wars, as she is an active member of the R2-D2 Builder’s Club with her very own Astromech and cosplays with the Rebel Legion.</p> <p>In our conversation, we talk about Mars Rovers, Star Wars, and cake decorating.</p> <p><strong>Show Notes (</strong><a href="https://steampoweredshow.com/shows/keri-bean/"><strong>link</strong></a><strong>)</strong></p> <p>[00:37] Keri's pursuit of meteorology.<br> [01:50] Astronomy as a potential path.<br> [02:12] Possible career paths in space.<br> [02:44] Her introduction to Space Weather<br> [03:35] Keri's first experiences with the rover missions.<br> [03:54] Spirit and Opportunity Rovers.<br> [04:51] Phoenix Mars Lander.<br> [05:54] Applying her meteorology studies to her rover mission experiences.<br> [06:33] Curiosity Rover.<br> [06:50] Keri's path to JPL.<br> [08:58] Dawn Mission.<br> [09:55] Filling the gaps in knowledge between her meteorology background and her work.<br> [10:36] Test beds.<br> [11:44] Building her own R2-D2.<br> [14:28] On becoming a Rover Planner.<br> [16:03] The process for certifying to be a Rover Planner.<br> [18:42] Certifying for individual Rovers.<br> [19:10] Her role as a Helicopter Integration Engineer on the Perseverance Rover drone, Ingenuity.<br> [20:11] Earth-side duplicate and testing of the drone.<br> [21:39] A day in the life of Keri.<br> [22:56] Working remotely.<br> [26:22] Coming up next for Curiosity and Perseverance.<br> [26:34] Curiosity: Wet Chemistry Experiment.<br> [27:28] Perseverance: Landing Day.<br> [27:59] Preparations for Landing Day.<br> [29:03] Flight software transitions.<br> [30:54] Ha