Adam Steltzner

{{short description|American aerospace engineer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025|cs1-dates=ly}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Adam Steltzner | image = Adam Steltzner 2021.jpg | image_size = 250px | alt = | caption = Adam Steltzner at JPL in 2021 | birth_name = Adam Diedrich Steltzner | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1963}}<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> | birth_place = Alameda County, California | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | residence = | citizenship = | fields = | workplaces = NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory University of Wisconsin–Madison University of California, Davis California Institute of Technology | alma_mater = College of Marin University of California, Davis (BSc) California Institute of Technology (MSc) University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD) | thesis_title = Input force estimation, inverse structural systems and the inverse structural filter | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/304536848 | thesis_year = 1999 | doctoral_advisor = Daniel C. Kammer<ref name="Steltzner 1999"/><ref name="Kammer"/> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Mars Pathfinder Mars Exploration Rovers Mars Science Laboratory<ref name="Steltzner"/><ref name="Prakash"/> Mars 2020 Mars sample-return mission | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|http://www.adamsteltzner.com/}} | footnotes = | spouse = }}

'''Adam Diedrich Steltzner''' (born 1963)<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> is an American NASA engineer who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He worked on several flight projects including Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). He was the lead engineer of the Mars Science Laboratory{{'s}} EDL phase (Entry, Descent and Landing),<ref name="Steltzner"/><ref name="Prakash"/> and helped design, build and test the sky crane landing system.<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/><ref name="Leopold"/>

The media has portrayed Steltzner as a "rock and roll" engineer.<ref name="Bosch"/> NPR's ''Morning Edition'' said "he has pierced ears, wears snakeskin boots and sports an Elvis haircut,"<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> while the ''EE Times'' called him "a bit of a hipster" and a "new breed of engineer" who is media savvy.<ref name="Leopold"/><ref name="Hand"/>

==Personal life== Steltzner, born 1963,<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area<ref name="Leopold"/> and came from a family that was financially well off,<ref name="Muirhead"/> his father being an heir to the Schilling spice fortune.<ref name="Bilger"/> He struggled in classes in high school, earned a failing grade in geometry, and was told by his father he would never amount to anything but a ditch digger.<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> "I was sort of studying sex, drugs and rock and roll in high school," says Steltzner.<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> After high school he played bass and drums in new wave bands.<ref name="Muirhead"/> He studied jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston, for less than a year.<ref name="Muirhead"/> As ''The New Yorker'' put it, "He was a college dropout and small-town playboy (he briefly dated the model Carré Otis), an assistant manager at an organic market and an occasional grower of weed. He had few skills and fewer prospects."<ref name="Bilger"/> Around 1984, while driving home from music gigs at night, he noticed how the position of the constellation Orion was in a different place than before which led him to enroll in an astronomy class at College of Marin and quit music.<ref name="Muirhead"/><ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> His education included Tamalpais High School (1981)<ref name="Krieger"/><ref name="Borenstein"/> and College of Marin;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hampton |first1=Caleb |title=Adam Steltzner, UCD alum and NASA engineer, speaks in Folsom |url=https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/adam-steltzner-ucd-alum-and-nasa-engineer-speaks-in-folsom/article_9ae131d7-5e54-563e-a527-851033e172d3.html |access-date=2024-03-18 |publisher=The Davis Enterprise |date=August 31, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at University of California, Davis (1990); a Master of Science degree in applied mechanics at California Institute of Technology (1991); and a PhD in engineering mechanics at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1999).<ref name="Steltzner 1999"/><ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/><ref name="Mars Society"/>

Steltzner is married with three children; his wife once worked at JPL as well. His second daughter was born three weeks after the Mars landing in 2012.<ref name="Bilger"/>

Steltzner published an autobiographical book in 2016 titled ''The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership, and High-Stakes Innovation'',<ref>{{cite book |title=The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership, and High-Stakes Innovation |publisher=Portfolio |first=Adam |last=Steltzner |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-59184-692-5}}</ref> a memoir of his time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the building of the Mars Science Laboratory. In October 2016, he was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering.<ref name="Platt">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=5031 |title=Mars Landing Pioneer Elected to National Academy of Engineering |publisher=NASA |first=Jane |last=Platt |date=February 9, 2016 |access-date=2016-12-11}}</ref> Steltzner speaks publicly on the topics of leadership, innovation, team building, and the power of curiosity and exploration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/?speaker=Adam+Steltzner |title=Adam Steltzner |publisher=Keppler Speakers |access-date=2016-12-11}}</ref>

==Career== [[File:Adam Steltzner at MSL Briefing (201208020005HQ).jpg|thumb|Steltzner demonstrates the ''Curiosity'' sky crane landing system]]

Steltzner is employed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he designed, tested and built the sky crane landing system for the ''Curiosity'' rover.<ref name="Leopold"/> Steltzner was phase lead and development manager for EDL (Entry, Descent and Landing) of the lander, which successfully landed on Mars on August 5, 2012.<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/> The sky crane was an entirely new technology system, Steltzner said of it "When people look at it...it looks crazy. That's a very natural thing. Sometimes when we look at it, it looks crazy. It is the result of reasoned, engineering thought. But it still looks crazy."<ref name="NASA 2012-06-22"/> The sky crane allows for a precise landing ellipse opening up many areas of Mars for exploration that were previously inaccessible due to uneven terrain.<ref name="NASA 2011-11-03"/>

Steltzner joined JPL in 1991, in the Spacecraft Structures and Dynamics group.<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/> He worked on several flight projects including the Shuttle–Mir Program,<ref name="Kammer"/> Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)<ref name="Squyres"/> and Mars Science Laboratory as well as several mission proposals, pre-Phase A projects and technology development efforts.<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/> Initially employed as a structures and mechanics personnel, he gravitated towards landing events and Mars Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) systems.<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/> He was the landing systems engineer on the cancelled comet mission Champollion and the mechanical systems lead for EDL on MER.<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10"/> When asked what he would like to do next, Steltzner says, "I'd like to see a Mars sample return. I'd like to land on the surface of Europa – the most likely place in the solar system for life. And third, I'd like to float a boat on the methane lakes of Titan."<ref name="Coulter"/>

Steltzner is the chief engineer of the Mars 2020 project, which launched the ''Perseverance'' rover to Mars in July 2020.<ref name="Platt" /> The mission is taking Martian surface samples and rock cores for potential return to Earth by a later mission.

==Media appearances== [[File:Curiosity Rover Begins Mars Mission August 6 2012 - Adam Steltzner speech.webm|thumb|right|Adam Steltzner speech given on the successful landing of Mars curiosity, August 6, 2012 (2m25s). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzfDZlEwaU Full video].]] Steltzner is often profiled by the press in human interest stories<ref name="Palca 2012-08-10"/> with a focus on a "rock and roll" engineer image; for example he was called "the face of the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory mission" by the ''EE Times'', who also called him "a bit of a hipster";<ref name="Leopold"/> he was interviewed on National Public Radio which noted his "Elvis haircut",<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03"/> and profiled again on NPR in a piece called "Red Planet, Green Thumb: How A NASA Scientist Engineers His Garden".<ref name="Davis"/> Steltzner also participated on the NPR radio quiz program ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sagal |first=Peter |title=Not My Job: We Quiz NASA Engineers On Mars Candy |work=NPR |date=July 6, 2013 |access-date=2025-09-01 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=199102676 | author-link = Peter Sagal }}</ref> He has been profiled similarly in other sources.<ref name="Bosch"/><ref name="Benderly"/> A chapter-length biography of Steltzner in the book ''Going to Mars'' (2004) is titled "Elvis Lives" after the rock and roll star who Steltzner supposedly resembles,<ref name="Muirhead"/> which ''Esquire'' said "calls back to NASA's halcyon days in the late 1950s and early 1960s".<ref name="Bell"/>

He was among the scientists and engineers featured on the ''NOVA'' episode "Mars Dead or Alive" (2004), which chronicled the process that ultimately delivered the rovers Spirit and Opportunity to Mars.<ref name="NOVA"/> The episode was nominated for an Emmy in 2004. He also appeared in the ''NOVA'' episodes "Welcome to Mars" (2005) and "The Great Math Mystery" (2015), ''Roadtrip Nation'' (2014), and other TV documentaries including ''Countdown to Mars'' (2003), ''Bouncing to Mars'' (2003), ''Spirit of Exploration'' (2005), ''What Went Right'' (2006), ''Mars Rising'' episodes "Journey to the Red Planet" and "Seven Minutes of Terror" (2007), and ''Horizon'' episodes "Mission to Mars: A Horizon Special" (2012) and "Man on Mars: Mission to the Red Planet" (2014). Steltzner appeared on the news program ''Studio B with Shepard Smith'' on August 6, 2012.<ref name="IMDB"/>

==Awards and honors== {{expand list|date=August 2014}} *2005 ASME Leonardo Da Vinci Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/honors-awards/unit-awards/leonardo-da-vinci-award |title=Leonardo Da Vinci Award |publisher=ASME |access-date=2018-10-10}}</ref> *2012 ''Nature'' named Steltzner one of 10 most important scientists of the year<ref name="Hand" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/18973-mars-rover-curiosity-steltzner-nature.html |title=Mars Rover Landing Guru Makes 'Best of 2012' List |work=Space.com |first=Mike |last=Wall |date=December 19, 2012 |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref> *2012 World Technology Award in Ethics given by the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inseit.net/news/7 |title=Anthony Beavers: 2012 World Technology Award in Ethics |publisher=International Society for Ethics and Information Technology |date=July 18, 2014 |access-date=2014-08-12 |archive-date=2014-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114030146/http://inseit.net/news/7 |url-status=dead }}</ref> *2013 ''Smithsonian'' magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Technology category<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-brilliance-behind-the-plan-to-land-curiosity-on-mars-180947633/?all |title=The Brilliance Behind the Plan to Land Curiosity on Mars |journal=Smithsonian |first=Jennifer |last=Ouellette |date=December 2013 |access-date=2013-12-05 | author-link = Jennifer Ouellette}}</ref> *2013 Space Pioneer Award for Science and Engineering presented by the National Space Society to the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) team<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nss.org/awards/2013.html |title=2013 National Space Society Awards |publisher=National Space Society |access-date=2014-08-12 |archive-date=2014-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630011315/http://www.nss.org/awards/2013.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> *2014 Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=24633 |title=Dr. Adam Steltzner Awarded Inaugural Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |first=Duane |last=Hyland |date=August 11, 2014 |access-date=2014-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211130/http://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=24633 |archive-date=2014-08-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> *2014 Astronautics Engineer Award given by the National Space Club as part of the Goddard Memorial Dinner Awards<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=42443 |title=National Space Club Announces 2014 Goddard Memorial Dinner Award Recipients |publisher=National Space Club |via=SpaceRef.com |date=February 4, 2014 |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref> *2016 Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering<ref name="Platt" />

==See also== *Miguel San Martín, Chief Engineer for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control system in the latest missions to Mars *Bobak Ferdowsi, frequently discussed in conjunction with Steltzner

==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Palca 2012-08-03">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/157597270/crazy-smart-when-a-rocker-designs-a-mars-lander |title=Crazy Smart: When A Rocker Designs A Mars Lander |first=Joe |last=Palca |work=NPR |date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-05 | author-link = Joe Palca}} See also [http://www.wbur.org/npr/157597270/crazy-smart-when-a-rocker-designs-a-mars-lander transcript] of audio portion.</ref>

<ref name="Steltzner 1999">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Adam |last=Steltzner |title=Input force estimation, inverse structural systems and the inverse structural filter |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison |date=1999 |id={{ProQuest|304536848}} }}</ref>

<ref name="Kammer">{{Cite journal |title=Structural Identification of Mir Using Inverse System Dynamics and Mir/Shuttle Docking Data |journal=Journal of Vibration and Acoustics |first1=D. C. |last1=Kammer |first2=A. D. |last2=Steltzner |volume=123 |issue=2 |page=230 |date=2001 |doi=10.1115/1.1355030|citeseerx=10.1.1.471.2355 }}</ref>

<ref name="Steltzner">{{Cite conference |title=Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing System |conference=2006 IEEE Aerospace Conference |location=Big Sky, Montana |first1=A. |last1=Steltzner |first2=D. |last2=Kipp |first3=A. |last3=Chen |date=2006 |doi=10.1109/AERO.2006.1655796 |isbn=0-7803-9545-X|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

<ref name="Prakash">{{Cite conference |title=Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing System Overview |conference=2008 IEEE Aerospace Conference |location=Big Sky, Montana |first1=R. |last1=Prakash |first2=P. D. |last2=Burkhart |first3=A. |last3=Chen |pages=1–18 |date=March 1–8, 2008 |doi=10.1109/AERO.2008.4526283 |isbn=978-1-4244-1487-1|display-authors=etal|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1263746 }}</ref>

<ref name="Leopold">{{cite news |url=http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4391685/Adam-Stelzner--NASA-s-hipster-rocket-engineer |title=Adam Steltzner, NASA's hipster rocket engineer |work=EE Times |first=George |last=Leopold |date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808192828/http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4391685/Adam-Stelzner--NASA-s-hipster-rocket-engineer |archive-date=2012-08-08 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bosch">{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/08/06/bobak_ferdowsi_adam_steltzner_nasa_s_mars_rover_curiosity_team_includes_a_mohawk_guy_.html |title=Forget the Nerdy Image: Mars Rover Curiosity Team Includes 'Mohawk Guy' and Former Rock 'n' Roller |work=Slate |first=Torie |last=Bosch |date=August 6, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-06}}</ref>

<ref name="Hand">{{Cite journal |title=366 days: ''Nature''{{'}}s 10 {{ndash}} Adam Steltzner: Our man on Mars |journal=Nature |first=Eric |last=Hand |volume=492 |issue=7429 |pages=335–343 |date=December 20, 2012 |doi=10.1038/492335a |pmid=23257862|bibcode = 2012Natur.492..335. |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="Muirhead">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jUZe2UUCdUC&pg=PA169 |title=Going to Mars: The Stories of the People Behind NASA's Mars Missions Past, Present, and Future |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York City |first1=Brian |last1=Muirhead |first2=Judith |last2=Reeves-Stevens |first3=Garfield |last3=Reeves-Stevens |pages=169–172 |date=2004 |isbn=0671027964 | author-link3 = Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens}}</ref>

<ref name="Bilger">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/22/130422fa_fact_bilger?currentPage=all |title=The Martian Chroniclers |magazine=The New Yorker |first=Burkhard |last=Bilger |date=April 22, 2013 |access-date=2013-04-15 | author-link = Burkhard Bilger}}</ref>

<ref name="Krieger">{{cite news |url=http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_21248354/tamalpais-high-school-graduate-has-hand-mars-rover |title=Tamalpais High School graduate has hand in Mars rover landing |work=Marin Independent Journal |first1=Lisa |last1=Krieger |first2=Mark |last2=Prado |date=August 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808204908/http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_21248354/tamalpais-high-school-graduate-has-hand-mars-rover |archive-date=2012-08-08}}</ref>

<ref name="Borenstein">{{cite news |url=http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_21330320/tam-grad-involved-mars-mission-gains-attention-part |title=Tam grad involved in Mars mission gains attention as part of new geek chic: mohawks are in, pocket protectors out |first1=Seth |last1=Borenstein |first2=Alicia |last2=Chang |work=Associated Press via Marin Independent Journal |date=August 16, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818053954/http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_21330320/tam-grad-involved-mars-mission-gains-attention-part |archive-date=2012-08-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="NASA 2009-11-10">{{cite web |url=http://ses.gsfc.nasa.gov/ses_data_2009/091110_Steltzner_Abstract.htm |title=Systems Engineering Seminar: System Engineering Challenges of the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) System; A tale in three acts |work=NASA.gov |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |date=November 10, 2009 |access-date=2012-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205013113/https://ses.gsfc.nasa.gov/ses_data_2009/091110_Steltzner_Abstract.htm |archive-date=2010-02-05}}</ref>

<ref name="Mars Society">{{cite web|url=http://www.marssociety.org/home/press/announcements/mslentrydescentlandingupdateatmarssocietyconvention |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415091201/http://www.marssociety.org/home/press/announcements/mslentrydescentlandingupdateatmarssocietyconvention |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-15 |title=MSL Entry, Descent & Landing Update at Mars Society Convention |publisher=Mars Society |date=June 12, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-14 }}</ref>

<ref name="NASA 2012-06-22">{{cite web |url=http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/movies/curiosity20120622/curiosity20120622.pdf |title=The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror |work=NASA.gov |date=June 22, 2012 |access-date=2012-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816164711/https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/movies/curiosity20120622/curiosity20120622.pdf |archive-date=2012-08-16 }}</ref>

<ref name="NASA 2011-11-03">{{cite web |url=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14839 |title=PIA14839: Curiosity's Sky Crane Maneuver, Artist's Concept |work=NASA.gov |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |date=October 3, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name="Squyres">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/rovingmarsspirit00squy |url-access=registration |title=Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet |publisher=Hyperion |location=New York City |first=Steven W. |last=Squyres |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rovingmarsspirit00squy/page/128 128]–138 |date=2005 |isbn=1401301495 | author-link = Steve Squyres}}</ref>

<ref name="Coulter">{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/21sep_curiositymatters/ |title=Why Curiosity Matters |work=NASA.gov |first=Dauna D. |last=Coulter |date=September 21, 2012 |access-date=2013-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923041705/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/21sep_curiositymatters/ |archive-date=2012-09-23 }}</ref>

<ref name="Palca 2012-08-10">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158515499/so-you-landed-on-mars-now-what |title=So You Landed On Mars. Now What? |work=NPR |first=Joe |last=Palca |date=August 10, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-12 | author-link = Joe Palca}}</ref>

<ref name="Davis">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/08/04/158085790/red-planet-green-thumb-how-a-nasa-scientist-engineers-his-garden |title=Red Planet, Green Thumb: How A NASA Scientist Engineers His Garden |work=NPR |first=Rebecca |last=Davis |date=August 4, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-06}}</ref>

<ref name="Benderly">{{cite journal |url=http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2012/08/good-rockin-ton.html |title=Good Rockin' (Maybe) Monday |journal=Science |first=Beryl |last=Benderly |date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813212127/http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2012/08/good-rockin-ton.html |archive-date=2012-08-13 }}</ref>

<ref name="Bell">{{cite news |url=http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/adam-steltzner-hair-2012 |title=The NASA-Guy Style We Can Actually Endorse |work=Esquire |first=Matthew |last=Bell |date=August 7, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809001429/http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/adam-steltzner-hair-2012 |archive-date=2012-08-09 }}</ref>

<ref name="NOVA">{{cite episode|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mars/program.html |title=Mars Dead or Alive |series=Nova |series-link=Nova (American TV series) |season=31 |number=9 |date=January 4, 2004 |transcript=Transcript |transcript-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040416133338/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3101_mars.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108184607/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mars/program.html |archive-date=2007-01-08 }}</ref>

<ref name="IMDB">{{IMDb name|1581679}}</ref>}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{Commons category|Adam Steltzner}} *[http://www.adamsteltzner.com/ Adam Steltzner official website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120815221412/https://gizmodo.com/5933049/talk-to-the-man-who-led-curiosity-to-the-surface-of-mars-adam-steltzner Talk to the Man Who Led Curiosity to the Surface of Mars: Adam Steltzner], ''Gizmodo'', video interview 5m12s, August 14, 2012. *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYPXqSN6OOk What's It's Like to Land on Mars], ''NASA.gov'', video 4m06s. Steltzner narrates the ''Curiosity'' landing. *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s 7 Minutes of Terror: The Challenges of Getting to Mars], ''YouTube.com'', video 5m08s. Steltzner, among others, describes the engineering challenges of the ''Curiosity'' landing. *[https://twitter.com/steltzner Adam Steltzner] at Twitter *[https://www.facebook.com/adamsteltzner Adam Steltzner] at Facebook

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steltzner, Adam}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:NASA people Category:University of California, Davis alumni Category:Tamalpais High School alumni Category:College of Marin alumni Category:California Institute of Technology alumni Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering alumni Category:American people of German descent Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

Adam Steltzner

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