Jacob (Richard) Matijevic, also known as "Jake" Matijevic, (3 November 1947 – 20 August 2012) was an American
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
of
Croatian origin who worked on
Mars Exploration Rovers
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rover ...
.
Dr. Matijevic was involved in developing the ''"
Sojourner
A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place.
Sojourner may also refer to:
* Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), abolitionist and women's rights activist
* Albert Sojourner (1872–1951), member of the Mississippi House of Representative ...
"'', ''"
Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
"'', ''"
Opportunity
Opportunity may refer to:
Places
* Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States
* ...
"'' and ''"
Curiosity
Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...
"'' rovers. For his contributions to the rover projects,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
named several landmarks on the
planet Mars (including ''"
Matijevic Hill
Matijevic Hill, named after American NASA engineer Jacob "Jake" Matijevic (1947 - 2012), is a hill located on " Cape York", itself on the western rim of Endeavour Crater lying within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the plan ...
"'' and ''"
Jake Matijevic"'' rock) after him.
Matijevic was born and grew up in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and graduated from
Mount Carmel High School. In 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in
mathematics from the
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
, and, in 1973, earned a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
under the supervision of
Irving Kaplansky
Irving Kaplansky (March 22, 1917 – June 25, 2006) was a mathematician, college professor, author, and amateur musician.O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Irving Kaplansky", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andr ...
.
In 1981, Matijevic began working at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
(JPL) in
Pasadena, California, as a
control systems engineer. In 1986, he worked in the
telerobotics
Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of semi-autonomous robots from a distance, chiefly using television, wireless networks (like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the Deep Space Network) or tethered connections. It is a combinati ...
field and later, in 1992, began work with the
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
''
Sojourner
A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place.
Sojourner may also refer to:
* Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), abolitionist and women's rights activist
* Albert Sojourner (1872–1951), member of the Mississippi House of Representative ...
'' rover. This rover was delivered to Mars by the
Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996.
Afterwards, Matijevic helped develop the ''"
Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
"'' and ''"
Opportunity
Opportunity may refer to:
Places
* Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States
* ...
"'' rovers that began exploring Mars in 2004. He also helped develop the ''"
Curiosity
Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...
"'' rover that landed on Mars in August 2012, just two weeks before his death.
After his death, NASA decided to name a Mars hill, ''"
Matijevic Hill
Matijevic Hill, named after American NASA engineer Jacob "Jake" Matijevic (1947 - 2012), is a hill located on " Cape York", itself on the western rim of Endeavour Crater lying within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the plan ...
"'', encountered by the ''"Opportunity"'' rover, and also a Mars rock, ''"
Jake Matijevic"'', encountered by the ''"Curiosity"'' rover, in his honor for his many contributions to the Mars rover projects over the years.
See also
*
Jake Matijevic (rock)
Jake Matijevic (or Jake M) is a pyramidal rock on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale crater on the planet Mars. The approximate site coordinates are: .
The rock was encountered by the ' ...
*
List of rocks on Mars
This is an alphabetical list of named rocks (and meteorites) found on Mars, by mission. This list is a sampling of rocks viewed, and is not an exhaustive listing. A more complete listing may be found on the various NASA mission web sites. This lis ...
*
Matijevic Hill
Matijevic Hill, named after American NASA engineer Jacob "Jake" Matijevic (1947 - 2012), is a hill located on " Cape York", itself on the western rim of Endeavour Crater lying within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the plan ...
References
External links
Mars Curiosity Rover - Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matijevic, Jacob
1947 births
2012 deaths
Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Exploration Rover mission
NASA people
American people of Croatian descent
Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
University of Chicago alumni