The late Stephen Hawking once said that we should remember to look up at the stars instead of looking down at our feet. Indeed, it takes a lot of imagination and perhaps a certain amount of faith to remember just how big our world is. There are about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe, and many more planets, many of which may be in the Goldilocks (habitable) zone, the potential for extraterrestrial life and other wonders. exists. At his NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, Sam Zadeh Dedicating his career to the quest for answers. Zadeh is the NASA JPL Project Configuration Manager and oversees the project team to ensure that the spacecraft design requirements are accurately and consistently implemented. Sitting at his desk each morning, Zadeh knows his work contributes to unforgettable moments. This moment is when humanity will finally know if they are truly alone.
“When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in our backyard, looking up at the night sky while everyone was watching TV,” he says. zade“I knew all the phases of the moon and the constellations, so as I got older, my curiosity about the universe only grew. I wanted to work for NASA, where I had to be part of it.
at University, zade After first obtaining a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, he completed a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a specialization in aerospace engineering. After graduating, he worked for the world’s top aircraft manufacturers, supporting advanced aircraft programs for the Airbus 220 (formerly Bombardier C Series), Bombardier Global 7000/8000 and General Dynamics Gulfstream Aerospace G500/600.
“It was an exciting job and it helped me become a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in my field,” he says. zade“It was fulfilling, but my ultimate goal was to work for NASA, so I was thrilled when I applied to JPL and landed my dream job.”
As NASA JPL Project Configuration Manager, Zadeh coordinates and implements agency CM process requirements for assigned JPL flight projects to ensure that product baseline changes are identified, evaluated, and approved.
Zadeh also NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission. He works with the project team to obtain his CoFR artifacts needed and present them to NASA JPL’s Director of Institutions so that he can ensure that the JPL artifacts are flight-ready prior to mission launch. .
During his tenure at NASA, Zadeh has supported important missions such as: SPHERExstudying the Big Bang theory and the origin of galaxies. Sentinel 6, dedicated to understanding climate change.and study hard (Surface Water Ocean and Topography) helps you study the world’s oceans.
“All of these projects have been great, but my favorite so far is SPHEREx,” says Zadeh. “I am very happy to have contributed to the study of what happened in less than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang. I love the challenge of the project. We hope to have evidence of how stars formed long ago.”
Zadeh believes it is inevitable that our questions about the universe and our place in it will be resolved, given that technological advances are being made every day.
“Unfortunately, of course, we cannot understand everything in our lifetime,” he says. “But that’s the exciting part. Even if we can’t know everything, it’s all the discoveries we’re making. We’re laying the groundwork for even more discoveries to be made by future generations.” Everything we do at NASA JPL gives us a deeper insight into this incredible world, and nothing could be more exciting or fulfilling.
