UPDATE: (October 14, 2001) Charles Whetsel has been named Chief Engineer of the Mars Program, a position he has held in an acting capacity since February.

As chief engineer, Whetsel will lead the technical development of all current and future Mars missions. Along with other members of the Mars Program staff, he will identify promising mission architectures and technologies, while resolving technical issues affecting multiple projects within the existing Mars Program. He will also lead the Mars Program Systems Engineering Team, comprised of senior engineers from across NASA and other key international space agencies participating in the cooperative exploration of Mars.

Who I Am

As a spacecraft systems engineer on the Mars Global Surveyor Project, I am responsible for making sure that the spacecraft we are building will meet all of the scientific objectives that we have planned for our mission.