Peter Theisinger
Peter C. Theisinger (1945 – June 26, 2024) was the director of the Engineering and Science Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California[1] and was the project manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission[2] and later project manager for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Theisinger graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as payload integration engineer that year and except for a three-year span in the early 1980s has worked at JPL since. Among the missions on which he has participated were the 1967 Mariner 5 flyby mission to Venus, the 1971 Mariner 9 orbiter mission to Mars, the Voyager mission to the outer planets of the Solar System, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.[3]
In 2013, Theisinger, along with Richard Cook, was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World[4] as a pioneer for his role in getting the Curiosity rover to Mars safely in August 2012.
Theisinger died on June 26, 2024 at the age of 78.[5]
References
- ^ "Peter C. Theisinger Director, Engineering and Science Directorate". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ Bridges, Andrew (January 25, 2004). "Spirit of Opportunity". Beaver County Times. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ "Peter Theisinger - Biography". John F. Kennedy Space Center. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ "The 2013 Time 100: Pioneers--Peter Theisinger and Richard Cook". 18 April 2013.
- ^ Purtill, Corinne (19 July 2024). "Pete Theisinger, who led Mars rover missions for JPL, dies at 78". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
