Bob Balaram

J. “ Bob” Balaram
Born (1959-06-28) June 28, 1959 (age 65)
EducationIndian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (MS, Ph.D.)
Known forChief Engineer for Ingenuity helicopter, which made the first extraterrestrial powered, controlled flight on April 19, 2021
AwardsJohn L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr. Award for Space Exploration from the Space Foundation.[1]
Scientific career
FieldsComputer and Systems Engineering, space science
InstitutionsNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

J. "Bob" Balaram (born 28 June 1959) is an Indian-American scientist and engineer currently working for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He is the chief engineer[2][3][4][5][6] and designer of Ingenuity (project name: Mars 2020 helicopter), the first extraterrestrial aircraft, that was attached underside of car-sized Perseverance rover that successfully landed on the Mars in February 2021.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Space Foundation Selects NASA JPL Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flight Team To Receive 2021 John L. 'Jack' Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration". Space Foundation. 2021-06-09. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  2. ^ Profile at MEP 2021.
  3. ^ Status 287.
  4. ^ Status 288.
  5. ^ Status 301.
  6. ^ Status 313.
  7. ^ "People: J. (Bob) Balaram". www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov. JPL Robotics. Archived from the original on 2005-11-25. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  8. ^ "The Man Who Wanted to Fly on Mars". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  9. ^ Chidanand, Rajghatta (April 19, 2021). "Dr J (Bob) Balaram: The man behind the Mars helicopter". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-04-21.