Emily Newman, Software Engineer and Rover Planner, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Programming Collaborative Space Robots

Emily Newman (SCS 2019) develops software and works in surface operations for projects at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.

She plays a hands-on role in commanding the Curiosity Mars Rover and deciding how it will traverse unexplored territory. This processing is critical to landing a spacecraft on the red planet — and sending astronauts there as NASA hopes to do as early as the 2030s.

“Working on Curiosity contributes to scientific study on Mars and beyond,” Emily says. “We’re in charge of keeping the rover safe and operational, so more discoveries can come out of the data we can keep collecting.”

She also works on collaborative autonomy projects for future lunar rovers, planning for three robots that will land on the moon and collaborate to gather information. She uses Python to develop telemetry processing, as well as other software that supports the overall mission.

The challenge? She must program the rovers to handle themselves and meet goals collectively without humans overseeing every step because it takes a long time to communicate directions from Earth.

“Getting more autonomy into space robotics will help us expand our reach and do more effective science, particularly on outer planets and their moons,” she says.

Story by Elizabeth Speed