The entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project received the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on April 24, 2013.

April 25, 2013

The entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project received the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on April 24, 2013. Pictured here in the back row are the following members of the team (from left to right): Tom Rivellini, Gavin Mendeck, Steve Lee, Miguel San Martin, Tomas Martin-Mur, Adam Steltzner, Ben Thoma, Howard Eisen and Ravi Prakash. In the front row (from left to right) are: Carl Guernsey, Keith Comeaux, Jody Davis, Ann Devereaux, Allen Chen and Fuk Li. The team members are from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., except for Mendeck (NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston) and Davis (NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.).

In the background is the plane used by the Wright Brothers in 1903 to make the first successful flight of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine.

The Trophy for Current Achievement honors outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology. MSL, managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, successfully landed the rover Curiosity on Mars in August 2012.

Credits

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

ENLARGE

You Might Also Like