Gregory Galgana Villar III: From curious to Curiosity
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team member Gregory Galgana Villar III. Photo courtesy of Villar.
MANILA, Philippines – As the Curiosity rover made its historic descent on Mars on Sunday, August 5 (Monday, August 6 in Manila), scientists, engineers, and space buffs around the world waited with bated breath to see if the landing would be successful.
There were hundreds of scientists and engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) alone, the mission control for Curiosity. Among them was a Filipino-American, Gregory Galgana Villar III, a 25-year-old engineer, part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.
"The environment [at the control room] was very tense, everyone was very anxious...we were getting more and more excited," he recalled.
He was at the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) control room – a room different from the one shown to the public on NASA's livestream – when the historic moment happened.
When touchdown on Mars was confirmed at 5:14 UTC (10:14 pm PDT), there was jubilation throughout the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"We all just jumped with joy. Everyone was hugging each other, everyone was crying, big smiles. There's this huge sense of relief," he said.
The historic event was Villar’s first rover mission – not too shabby for a Filipino-American curious about science and engineering, now one of the youngest engineers at the JPL.
California to Baguio and back
Born and raised in Long Beach, California to Filipino parents, he attended high school at the St Louis University Laboratory High School in Baguio City. He then went back to California, and took up Physics at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in Pomona.
During his junior year at Cal Poly Pomona, he was awarded a scholarship under the NASA's Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) program, which included an internship at the JPL.
As an intern, he conducted research in astrophysics and planetary science. He eventually got hired as an employee in June 2010, where he first did cost models for future missions.
He has been with the MSL team since January 2011 as an Operations Systems Engineer. His tasks included conducting training exercises for the flight team, which involved simulation of the mission's different phases.
"The objective was to ensure that all of the tools, procedures, processes and interactions between the teams functioned correctly," he told Rappler in an interview Thursday, August 9 (Wednesday, August 8, in California).
'Unbelievable sequence of events'
The successful landing of the rover caused a sigh of relief and a source of joy for the MSL team, including Villar.
"It's just an unbelievable sequence of events – I still can't believe it worked! And it's a really big project that will contribute a lot," he said.
The rover is an important step in helping us understand whether the Red Planet has, or can, support microbial life.
"Understanding whether life exists outside of our planet is a very interesting topic and since Mars is the closest planet to Earth, it is logical we start looking there," he said.
Aside from that, the 25-year-old engineer said the high-tech rover alone should pique the interest of people, from its cameras, arms, scientific payloads, and its own laser. "Did you see the crazy landing system? Come on, how cool is that?"
Gregory Galgana Villar III beside the NASA logo. Photo courtesy of Villar.
Science planner
With the rover now exploring the Martian landscape, Villar is transitioning to his new role as a Science Planner for the MSL team.
"Everyday Curiosity reports back to Earth and based on the information that comes back, the operations team plans the next set of activities the rover will execute," he said.
"Do we want [Curiosity] to drill? Do we want it to drive? Do we want it to do science? The whole planning process takes about 18 hours...we break it up to two shifts. (During) the first shift...we do the real planning, and that's where I come in as a Science Planner," he said.
The daily plan involves the input of hundreds of scientists and engineers, and as Science Planner, he is responsible for building and maintaining it everyday.
In the following weeks, the MSL team must now ensure all of Curiosity’s systems are properly working.
"Curiosity has spent over 8 months traveling through space and has been tucked in a spacecraft the whole time. Now that the rover is on the surface of Mars, the operations team will perform a bunch of checkouts before doing any heavy science or driving," Villar said.
"We want to make sure that Curiosity is nice and healthy before we do anything, so this month will be full of engineering and instrument checkouts," he said.
Depending on the outcome of the mission’s first few months, his tasks within the team could still change. It would also be possible that he would work on another mission soon.
But one thing is for sure: many new things about our planetary neighbor will be uncovered by Curiosity.
Childhood dream
With his Filipino ancestry – his mom is from Novaliches, Quezon City, while his dad is from Taguig City – Villar adds to the already multi-ethnic group of scientists and engineers at the JPL.
"I bring diversity to the team, being one of the youngest engineers and of course being Filipino," he said. There are other Filipino scientists and engineers working at the JPL, but "they are very rare."
"There’s probably a handful of them," he said.
One good thing working at the JPL is that diversity in the workforce is valued. "All races, all ages, young and old. That's really a huge thing at JPL. They want to make sure that our institution is diverse."
He said working at the lab is a dream come true. From watching top-notch scientists on TV specials back when he was a child, he is now working with them.
"It is an honor to work with some of the best scientists and engineers in the world because they are just that – the best...It is extremely humbling being able to work with and learn from world-renowned experts every day," he said.
"I dreamed of working at NASA when I was younger and now I hope my story will serve as an inspiration to younger Filipinos who have a similar dream," he said.
"Your dreams can come true if you work hard enough," he added. - Rappler.com
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