Abstract
I was very lucky to go to the United States and finally get this kind of an internship because, I had been given the opportunity to work in one of the most productive scientific sector of the country, The Californian Institute of Technology. This American college is one of the research centres of the NASA, so this internship is very representative of the American way of working. Everything is put at the researcher's disposal no matter the cost. The only thing that matters is productivity. A solution has to be found and as soon as possible. So the laboratories are impressive and equipped with latest fashion hardware. I worked in the mathematics department of the University, which is just a succession of offices, it was obvious that the only tools used there were mathematicians brains and laptops. I did not have my own office but I had to work in professor Haddad's office who lent me a laptop, that I just used to communicate with the professor when I was not in the office. Indeed, I only used papers and a pen to do the work I was assigned. The professor spent one afternoon with me; he wanted to know more about my mathematics background to see if I was able to make it. Of course I did not know some of the notions I would have to use, but the professor told me he will explain in due course those complex notions I never learned. I have already heard about the Phoenix Mars Lander mission and I knew that the general purpose was to find out if life was possible in Mars, but I didn't know the whole concept, it is a Mars lander that has to take samples and to find frozen water in order to study the history of water in Mars. After presenting me the mission, Ziad Haddad showed me what the problem was with Phoenix. The spaceship has to land vertically because if it is not the case, it won't be able to take off and come back to earth with the samples.
Extract
[...] Because the beams are quite wide, it is not ideal merely to assume that each return is coming from the respective bore sight. To make estimates that are closer to being optimal, one would have to modify the current sequential and independent treatment of the return from each beam, and impose some consistency constraints on the returns from the four beams. 2.3.3 The mathematical solution Call the velocity components v1, v2 and v3 (the first two horizontal, the third nadir). [...]
[...] Until today I don't realize that I was working for the Mars exploration program of the NASA, on the Phoenix mission. Even if my contribution was purely mathematical, I learned a lot about Space and huge projects management. I discovered the NASA institution and the role of the high technological universities such as the California Institute of Technology where I worked. Students are already given great responsibilities in research and engineering work. Through this experience I learned how to work efficiently without bothering my mentor asking for too much supervising. [...]
[...] When Phoenix is either at an altitude of 39 feet (12 meters) or travelling at 7.9 feet per second (2.4 meters per second) the spacecraft starts travelling at a constant velocity. On touchdown, the landing engines are turned off, controlled by footpad-mounted sensors that detect contact with the surface. Once down, Phoenix is a fixed lander, a firm-footed, stay-put probe ready for research in the northern polar plains of Mars. At a special hot fire test facility here, the Phoenix propulsion system design has undergone extensive shakeout. [...]
[...] In order to understand the problem, Phoenix Mars Lander will be presented. Then the ideas and concepts leading to the final solution will be simplified and explained. Even if my contribution is limited to some calculations, I really understood the concept and my work will be outlined in a third part. But first, the work setting has to be presented. I had the chance to work in the California Institute of Technology which is the research centre of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. [...]
[...] On top of that I improved my skills a lot because I spent many hours each day to solve equations to be sure I would give the professor the right solution. More than mathematical skills, I learned how to work efficiently on my own. In my case I did not work as a big team, because it was just me and the professor, but I knew that I had to make the given assignments without consulting him every time I was stuck. [...]
