NASA engineers Bobak Ferdowsi and Adam Steltzner delivered an address entitled “More Than Just Curiosity” as part of the Bagley College of Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series Tuesday night.
Ferdowsi, an aerospace engineer, held the title of flight director, while Steltzner played a key role in designing, building and testing the unique sky crane system that successfully deposited the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover on Mars.
Ferdowsi said he saw numerous similarities between Mars and Earth, demonstrating such geological formations as mountains, foothills, and riverbeds in photographs taken by the Curiosity Rover.
“There are a lot of parallels between Mars and our own planet,” he said.
Ferdowsi also said Curiosity will puncture the surface of Mars to discover what is beneath the dust-coated surface of the Red Planet.
“Curiosity will drill on Mars, probably within the week, and we’ll be looking back into the history of Mars, not just what’s on the surface,” he said.
Steltzner said the work of the Curiosity Rover and NASA in general is deeply connected to the human experience, arguing that space exploration begs such philosophical questions as “Who are we?” and “What is our reach?”
“When we explore, we are exploring our limits,” he said. “I can look at a picture of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and that has meaning to me.”
Steltzner, now famous for his pompadour and sideburns, also drew numerous parallels between his own life and that of the Curiosity Rover. He described his days as a “listless 20-year-old wannabe rock star” and his decision to pursue engineering based on his fascination with the constellations in the night sky.
Steltzner emphasized that we, as human beings, do not know where the future will take us, and would probably be paralyzed with fear and disbelief if we knew.
“Somehow, thank God, you never know where your curiosity’s going to take you; otherwise, you might not go there,” he said. 
Using the sky crane as an example, Steltzner said the most brilliant ideas often seem foolish when first conceived.  
“Great genius and great folly may be indistinguishable at the outset,” he said.
Ferdowsi said working as an engineer at NASA is no average job, and a special temperament is required in such a demanding environment.
“You don’t get this kind of job without some kind of quirky personality,” he said.
Ferdowsi also said his Mohawk was an effort to lighten the tension that accompanies such high-stakes missions as Curiosity.
“My hairdo was actually an effort to take off some of the stress of preparing for this mission,” he said.
Ian Ladner, senior mechanical engineering major, said both speakers conveyed information about the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover in simple, colloquial language.
“I thought it was very well-planned in the sense that they were able to present very high-level material in a down-to-earth manner,” he said.
Rachel McFalls, senior aerospace engineering major, said the speakers connected well with an audience that consisted of many non-experts.
“They did a really good job of explaining something highly technical to a group of students that may or may not understand,” she said.