Don Sweetnam
Mr. Donald Sweetnam has joined the mission as Deputy Project Manager. Don has been a member of the professional staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over 30 years. He has conducted scientific investigations into the physical properties and atmospheres of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Io, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, Neptune, and Triton. He has conducted these experiments using NASA's Pioneer 10 & 11, Mariner 9, Mariner 10, Viking 1& 2, and Voyager 1 & 2 Spacecraft.
Mr. Sweetnam is currently manager of the Genesis Project, a mission to measure the composition of the Sun, which successfully collected samples of the Solar Wind and returned them to Earth in 2004.
Below is an interview from February 16, 2010.
What is your role on the Stardust-NExT mission?
I am the Deputy Project Manager. Of course, getting to know and work with Joe Veverka and Tim Larson is the first order of business, but this is also a homecoming of sorts, because I am now renewing collaborations with JPL and Lockheed Martin folks from my Genesis mission days.
What was your first job (mission) at JPL and what was/were your role/responsibility?
My first complete mission at JPL was the Viking missions to Mars and I was part of the Radio Science Experiment Team from 1973 to 1979. Our experiment was to determine the structure of the Mars atmosphere, including near surface temperatures, over many latitudes/longitudes, using a radio occultation technique between the two orbiters and the Ground DSN antennas. My particular job was to develop the software data analysis system to ensure that experiments were done correctly, and then to process/analyze the experimental data. This was an exciting time, as we were able to measure seasonal and diurnal changes in the temperature, as well as temperatures over the polar caps and during dust storms.
I also did similar experiments with two Pioneer spacecraft to Jupiter, Io, and Saturn, with MVM to Venus and Mercury, and with Voyager to Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, Neptune, Triton. Recently, I worked on the Genesis mission, which captured samples of the Solar Wind and brought them back to Earth. Those samples are now being analyzed to provide a precise measure of the elemental and isotopic composition of our Sun.
How has space exploration changed over the years?
When I started, most of the known moons of the planets in our solar system were no more than points of light, even in the biggest telescopes. Now we have visited them and we know that they are each their own unique world—some with atmosphere, some with craters, some with ice, some with volcanos—plus we have found many more.
Is this the first comet mission you have worked on?
Just before coming here, I worked on the U.S. Rosetta Project, a collaboration with the European Space Agency. Rosetta is a spacecraft on its way to orbit comet 67/P and observe it up close from a quiescent state through perihelion.
Was working in this industry something you always wanted to do?
Yes, ever since about 4th grade. I remember watching a launch on black and white TV (probably the first manned Mercury launch of Alan Shepard in May of 1961), and then reporting to my classmates what I had seen.
What do you find is the biggest obstacle in your job(s)?
It is so easy to think of many exciting things to explore in our solar system and beyond, but it is difficult to turn those thoughts into a robot spacecraft to visit, and even more difficult to travel there in person.
When you are not working what do you like to do?
I have a wife and three grown children. My son is a sales manager for lab equipment in San Diego, my daughter is an elementary school teacher in La Canada, and my son is a car salesman in Glendale. My daughter and I occasionally go on outdoor photography jaunts. I love to play guitar and jam with the boys. My wife and I like to find quiet out-of-the-way beach houses—take long walks, build a fire, read a book.