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What it was like working on the Mariner, Viking, and NEAR missions with James Miller
Check out the book here https://amzn.to/2Z5utRP
Interview Timeline
James Miller has decades of experience working on spacecraft navigation. He has also worked extensively in programming computer systems to conduct navigation operations. We spoke about his experiences with the Mariner, Viking, and NEAR missions for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This is part 1 of a two part interview.
0:54 – James talks about issues with the Mariner missions. He starts with a discussion of submarines.
5:26 – James talks about the companies he worked for and the wide view he has about engineering work.
12:44 – James talks about working on Westinghouse nuclear programs and safety work.
17:59 – James talks about doing calculations for the Viking mission.
19:02 – James discusses Bill Melbourne and his contributions to space missions at JPL.
24:29 – James talks about determining a spacecraft’s [distance] position.
31:07 – James talks about research he did on molecules in a container and effects on spacecraft.
37:26 – James talks about discussing his scientific findings with Bill Melbourne.
39:25 – James gives his theory of science.
43:13 – James talks about navigating the NEAR mission and problems they had in lowering the spacecraft to the asteroid.
48:40 – James discusses the Mariner mission.
54:42 – James talks about why electronic chips for Mariner kept failing before the mission.
1:02:10 – James talks about spacecraft pointing systems.
1:04:08 – James explains that the purple plague was the damage to the integrated circuits. He also talks about the Mariner 6 scanner platform problems.
Links of interest
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319789156
Contact Information
For more “Technology and Space” please follow me at technologyandspace.com or www.spacewalksmoneytalks.com , on Facebook at Spacewalks Money Talks, on twitter at SpacewalksMT, on youtube at Spacewalks Money Talks , and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.
Guests: James Miller
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: space history, space technology, unmanned space missions, audio interviews, NASA history, podcast, coding and computing, general science,
Check out the book here https://amzn.to/2Z5utRP
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