THERE WERE SCORES OF TECHNICIANS AND SCIENTISTS WHO WORKED ON THE RECENT MARS PATHFINDER MISSION AND WHO SHARED IN ITS SUCCESS. AMONG THEM WAS A MATHEMATICIAN AND PROJECT DESIGNER WHO FIRST DREAMED OF SPACE EXPLORATION AS A CHILD IN HIS AFRICAN HOMELAND OF MALI. AS GREG FLAKUS REPORTS FROM THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, THIS ERRANT AFRICAN IS NOW HELPING TO PLAN FUTURE MISSIONS TO MARS.THE WONDER OF SPACE EXPLORATION FIRST SWEPT OVER CHEICK MODIBO DIARRA AS HE TUNED IN HIS SHORTWAVE RADIO TO THE VOICE OF AMERICA AT HIS HOME IN SEGOU, MALI BACK IN THE 1960'S. HE SAYS HE WAS THRILLED TO HEAR ABOUT THE FIRST MISSIONS TO THE MOON.
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN SEGOU, PEOPLE OF MY GENERATION WERE IN THE HABIT OF LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF AMERICA. THERE WAS A GENTLEMAN, I NEVER CAN REMEMBER HIS NAME, WHO USED TO GIVE US, FROM TIME TO TIME, THE MISSION STATUS ON THE APOLLO (NASA MOON MISSIONS) PHASE AND THAT IS WHERE THE INITIAL SEED GOT PLANTED IN MY HEAD.
AFTER STUDYING MATHEMATICS IN FRANCE AND THEN GOING ON TO STUDY FURTHER IN THE UNITED STATES, MR DIARRA WAS INVITED TO WORK AT NASA AND EVENTUALLY BECAME INVOLVED IN DESIGNING THE MARS PATHFINDER MISSION. HE SAYS HE WAS THRILLED BY THE SUCCESS OF THE MISSION AND HE IS NOW LOOKING FORWARD TO FUTURE PROJECTS. HE SAYS HE BELIEVES HE MAY LIVE TO SEE A HUMAN BEING SET FOOT ON MARS.
WE HOPE THAT IN THE WINDOW BETWEEN THE YEAR 2012 AND THE YEAR 2018 THAT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FRAME TO SEND A HUMAN TO MARS. I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE JUST RETIRED, BUT IT WOULD BE A GREAT ADVENTURE STILL.
FLAKUS: WHAT IF IT WENT SOONER AND SOMEBODY FROM NASA ASKED YOU TO GO, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?
(LAUGHS) I WOULD PROBABLY ASK THEM TO GRAB ONE OF MY YOUNGER BROTHERS, BECAUSE THIS REALLY IS AN ADVENTURE AND IT HAS TO CONTINUE.
MR DIARRA IS CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN BOTH EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS FOR NASA AND IN PLANNING FOR FUTURE MISSIONS TO MARS, WHICH WILL GATHER MORE DATA ON THE RED PLANET AND EVENTUALLY BRING BACK SAMPLES OF MARTIAN SOIL FOR MORE INTENSIVE ANALYSIS HERE ON EARTH.
I AM WORKING RIGHT NOW ON THE 2005 MISSION, WHICH IS THE SAMPLE-RETURN MISSION, WHICH IS GOING TO BE THE MOTHER OF ALL MISSIONS! IF YOU THINK THE PATHFINDER WAS DIFFICULT, WAIT UNTIL THE SAMPLE RETURN. THAT IS A VERY COMPLICATED ONE. SO, WE ARE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW AND BY THE TIME WE FINISH DOING THAT AND START ANSWERING THE QUESTION ABOUT LIFE ON MARS AND RESOURCES OF MARS AND UNDERSTANDING THE CLIMATE AND GEOLOGY OF MARS, AS IT RELATES TO EARTH, THAT WILL ALREADY BE THE YEAR 2008, AND BY THAT TIME, MAYBE WE WILL HAVE AN INDICATION OF THE COMMITMENT TO SEND A HUMAN TO MARS.
MR DIARRA SAYS HE WILL NEVER FORGET THE COMRADESHIP OF THE MARS PATHFINDER TEAM, WHOSE CHIEF SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS, HE SAYS, WERE EVERY BIT AS ENTHUSIASTIC AND BRILLIANT BEHIND THE SCENES AS THEY WERE WHEN THEY TOLD THE WORLD ABOUT THEIR WORK IN NEWS CONFERENCES.
WORKING WITH THIS PATHFINDER TEAM WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE EXPERIENCES THAT WILL LAST ME FOR THE LONGEST TIME. HERE WAS A TEAM THAT WAS COMPRISED OF YOUNG PEOPLE, VERY BRIGHT, VERY ENTHUSIASTIC, ABLE TO CREATE A TRUE ATMOSPHERE OF TEAM WORK, WHERE NO ONE HAD ANY PROBLEM CALLING FOR HELP AND NO ONE HAD ANY PROBLEM HELPING. AT THE SAME TIME, IF THERE IS A PROBLEM, IT BECOMES A COLLECTIVE PROBLEM. EVERYBODY COMES TOGETHER AND SOLVES THE PROBLEM AND AFTER WE SOLVE THE PROBLEM, IT IS A COLLECTIVE CELEBRATION.
CHEICK MODIBO DIARRA SAYS HE HAS ASKED THE PATHFINDER TEAM LEADERS FOR ONE SMALL FAVOR. HE WOULD LIKE THEM TO NAME A SPOT ON MARS FOR SEGOU, HIS HOMETOWN BACK IN MALI.
24-Jul-97
Source: Voice of America