Lecture in language
Ashwin Vasavada (USA)
Project Scientist
„If you have a passion to understand the world around you, and to create knowledge that will become part of human history, science becomes its own reward.“
He belongs to a dozen of scientists who work on Curiosity, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). They conceive, design, build, test, and fly robotic spacecraft that explore the Earth, the solar system and beyond. It's a fantastic collaboration between scientists, who ask the questions and make measurements to answer them; and engineers, who develop the spacecraft and instruments that provide the means to make those measurements.
Ashwin was born in California, started at UCLA in aerospace engineering, then switched majors twice in college, once to physics, and then to Earth and space science where he found his
More…
Ashwin was born in California, started at UCLA in aerospace engineering, then switched majors twice in college, once to physics, and then to Earth and space science where he found his path. „We really are just tiny human beings using all our intellectual and mechanical strength to sling ourselves virtually to other worlds,“ he says.
He is also a musician: he plays drums and piano. He loves to get out into the desert and mountains. Every summer he tries to spend a few nights backpacking in the High Sierra.
As for work, he really enjoys giving talks about Curiosity in classrooms and at other events. He volunteers at inner-city schools in Los Angeles too.