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ROBOT EXPLORERS 83

1973 Mariner 10 is launched successfully; Shirley becomes a “proj-
ect engineer” with management responsibilities, as well as a
spokesperson for the program
1974 Shirley heads a team researching alternative energy sources in
the wake of the fuel crisis
1979 Shirley leads a team that plans what will eventually become
the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan
1980s Shirley works on research and planning for manned space sta-
tions
1987 Shirley and her team begin designing robotic Mars rovers

Early NASA adopts the “better, faster, cheaper” approach to designing
1990s space missions
1992 Shirley becomes manager of NASA’s Sojourner rover team
1994 Shirley becomes manager of JPL’s Mars Exploration Project

1997 The Sojourner rover successfully explores Mars in July
Shirley becomes president of Managing Creativity, a consulting
and training fi rm specializing in team-building

1998 Shirley retires from the Mars Exploration Program and pub-
lishes her autobiography, Managing Martians
2003 Shirley becomes director of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame
and Museum in Seattle
NASA explores Mars with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers

Further Reading

Books
Mishkin, Andrew. Sojourner: An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder
Mission. New York: Berkeley Publishing, 2003.
A vivid account by the project’s operations team leader, explain-
ing how the team dealt with myriad technical and management
problems.