Clara O'Farrell

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Clara O'Farrell
Clara O'Farrell at JPL in 2021
Born
Clara O'Farrell

1986 (age 37–38)
Boston, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican-Argentinean
Alma materPrinceton University (BSE)
California Institute of Technology (PhD)
Known forMars 2020
Mars sample-return mission
Spouse
​
(m. 2019)​
Scientific career
InstitutionsNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Princeton University (BSE)
California Institute of Technology (PhD)
ThesisA dynamical systems analysis of vortex pinch-off (2013)
Doctoral advisorJohn Dabiri[1]
Websiteclaraofarrell.github.io

Clara O'Farrell (born 1986) is a guidance and control engineer for the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) group at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab[2] who is known for her work on the Mars Perseverance Rover Mission.[3] Her education and research in aerospace engineering focused in propulsion and fluid dynamics, leading her to work for NASA.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

She was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[4] O'Farrell's heritage is Irish and she grew up speaking English at home with her mother and grandparents.[5] At the age of 19, she moved to the United States to attend college where she realized aerospace was another path for her aspirations.[6] In 2008, O'Farrell earned her Bachelors of Science in Engineering (BSE), Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University[7] in New Jersey. As a child, O'Farrell was always interested in science and one of her childhood dreams was to be a marine biologist. As she grew older, she thought her options in science were limited to medicine or engineering.[6] She has credited both her mother and her grandmother for inspiring her work ethic and learning how the world works.[8] In May 2013, she completed her Ph.D at California Institute of Technology in Control and Dynamical Systems, with a focus on the fluid dynamics of jellyfish swimming in John Dabiri's group.[1][9]

Research and projects[edit]

Miguel San Martin inspired O'Farrell and helped hone her interest in working in aerospace and at NASA.[10] As an undergrad, she joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab where O'Farrell worked with John Dabiri, studying the contraction movements of jellyfish as a way to understand and model vortex rings.[11][12][13] Also, she worked with Dabiri on Nested contour-dynamic models for vortex rings and vortex wakes. This led her to officially start working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in 2013.[7]

In 2020, O'Farrell was part of the Mars Perseverance Rover Mission for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab as a guidance and control engineer. She was a member of the group that created the supersonic parachute for the rover that landed on Mars in February 2021.[7] Her simulations on spacecraft trajectory helped guide the Perseverance mission's entry, descent, and landing on Mars.[14] As of 2022, O’Farrell is working on developing a supersonic parachute that will be used to collect soil samples from Mars.[6] O'Farrell has been vocal about her desire to inspire other women and minorities who doubt their abilities in science.[6][8]

Awards[edit]

O'Farrell was a 2021 recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Awards Honors along with NASA Engineers Christina Hernández and Diana Trujillo.[15]

See also[edit]

  • Miguel San Martín, Chief Engineer for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control system in the latest missions to Mars

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b dabirilab.com. "John Dabiri's Research Group Alumni". Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  2. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Clara O'Farrell - Guidance and Control Engineer | People Profile - NASA". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  3. ^ a b Ellitoral.com. "Quién es Clara O'Farrell: la ingeniera Argentina que trabaja en la NASA y llegó hasta Marte". www.ellitoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  4. ^ Ellitoral.com. "Quién es Clara O'Farrell: la ingeniera argentina que trabaja en la NASA y llegó hasta Marte". www.ellitoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  5. ^ Ellitoral.com. "Quién es Clara O'Farrell: la ingeniera argentina que trabaja en la NASA y llegó hasta Marte". www.ellitoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  6. ^ a b c d "Clara O'Farrell es argentina, trabaja en la NASA y se especializa en diseñar paracaídas supersónicos". LA NACION (in Spanish). 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  7. ^ a b c Martinez, Juan (2022-04-23). "Argentina native helps NASA put Perseverance rover on Mars". Orato. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  8. ^ a b Martínez, Juan (2022-01-01). "CLARA O'FARRELL: ANIMARSE A COSAS PODEROSAS | CONVIVIMOS digital". convivimos.naranja.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  9. ^ "Mars Perseverance Team Members to Be Recognized at Hispanic Heritage Awards". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  10. ^ Martinez, Juan (2022-04-23). "Argentina native helps NASA put Perseverance rover on Mars". Orato. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  11. ^ O’Farrell, Clara; Dabiri, John O. (March 2010). "A Lagrangian approach to identifying vortex pinch-off" (PDF). Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science. 20 (1): 017513. doi:10.1063/1.3275499. ISSN 1054-1500.
  12. ^ O’Farrell, Clara; Dabiri, John O. (2012-06-29). "Perturbation response and pinch-off of vortex rings and dipoles" (PDF). Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 704: 280–300. doi:10.1017/jfm.2012.238. ISSN 0022-1120.
  13. ^ O’Farrell, Clara; Dabiri, John O. (2014-05-01). "Nested contour dynamics models for axisymmetric vortex rings and vortex wakes" (PDF). Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 748: 521–548. doi:10.1017/jfm.2014.199. ISSN 0022-1120.
  14. ^ "Hispanic Heritage Foundation – Page 2". Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  15. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Perseverance Team Members Recognized at Hispanic Heritage Awards". NASA Mars Exploration. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
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