Probe a little deeper and you see more of what makes Jennifer a key "player" on the Mars Exploration Rovers team. She's a champion athlete, as well as an accomplished engineer: a 4-year letter winner in volleyball during her time at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she was an Academic All-American in 1989. She also lettered in softball in her senior year, and was inducted into the Verizon "Life's Playbook" Hall of Fame in 2001. She was invited twice to the White House for her work on Pathfinder, when she was Mission Director - seen on camera at the main flight console - for that mission's astonishing and exciting first day on Mars.

During early taping for "To MARS with MER", we captured Jennifer at work and play: testifying before the hard-nosed Mission System "Critical Design Review" in late 2001, responding to tough questions about how well prepared the Mars Exploration Rovers team was, and also relaxing (at least, that's what she said!) in the finals of a volleyball competition.

She also found time to sit and speak with P2K about the personal satisfaction she finds in working so hard, and why she's so committed to the Mars Exploration Rover's success. (Interview, September 26, 2001)