Keri Bean 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&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.In our conversation, we talk about Mars Rovers, Star Wars, and cake decorating.Show Notes (link)[00:37] Keri's pursuit of meteorology.[01:50] Astronomy as a potential path.[02:12] Possible career paths in space.[02:44] Her introduction to Space Weather[03:35] Keri's first experiences with the rover missions.[03:54] Spirit and Opportunity Rovers.[04:51] Phoenix Mars Lander.[05:54] Applying her meteorology studies to her rover mission experiences.[06:33] Curiosity Rover.[06:50] Keri's path to JPL.[08:58] Dawn Mission.[09:55] Filling the gaps in knowledge between her meteorology background and her work.[10:36] Test beds.[11:44] Building her own R2-D2.[14:28] On becoming a Rover Planner.[16:03] The process for certifying to be a Rover Planner.[18:42] Certifying for individual Rovers.[19:10] Her role as a Helicopter Integration Engineer on the Perseverance Rover drone, Ingenuity.[20:11] Earth-side duplicate and testing of the drone.[21:39] A day in the life of Keri.[22:56] Working remotely.[26:22] Coming up next for Curiosity and Perseverance.[26:34] Curiosity: Wet Chemistry Experiment.[27:28] Perseverance: Landing Day.[27:59] Preparations for Landing Day.[29:03] Flight software transitions.[30:54] Handling the unexpected.[32:14] Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work?[34:07] Keri's cosplay.[36:46] Porgs and PORGs.[40:27] Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you?[42:04] Bonus Question 3: What advice you would give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore?[43:03] Exploring other topics if they are of interest.[43:21] Gaining astronomy experience with the HUBBLE[45:38] Reaching out to Keri.Connect with STEAM Powered:WebsiteFacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonKo-FiThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacySpotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

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