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ROBOT EXPLORERS

DONNA SHIRLEY AND THE MARS ROVERS

n 1997, humankind’s first mobile robot planetary explorer bounced
Iacross the surface of Mars, astride a lander platform surrounded
by giant air bags. Called Sojourner and smaller than a child’s
wagon, the little machine would begin a new era of exploration of
our most enigmatic planetary neighbor. Built for less than the cost
of a hit Hollywood movie, Sojourner represented not only new ideas
in robotic space exploration but also a style of creative management
much different from the top-down bureaucracy that had troubled
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for
years.
The manager who guided and helped shape the complex Mars
Pathfinder program was Donna Shirley, a woman whose own
sojourns in traditionally male-dominated fields continually chal-
lenged her perseverance and creativity.

A Love of Engineering

Donna Shirley was born in the small town of Wynnewood,
Oklahoma, in 1941. Because her father was the town doctor
and her mother the daughter of a prominent minister, Shirley
and her younger sister Margo were closely scrutinized for
“proper” behavior. This was a real problem for the young girl.
In her autobiography, Managing Martians, Shirley recalled that
as a child,

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