Jacob Matijevic, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Jacob Matijevic

Croatian-born NASA engineer

Date of Birth: 03-Nov-1947

Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Date of Death: 20-Aug-2012

Profession: engineer, mathematician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio


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About Jacob Matijevic

  • Jacob (Richard) Matijevic, also known as "Jake" Matijevic, (3 November 1947 – 20 August 2012) was an American NASA engineer of Croatian origin who worked on Mars Exploration Rovers.
  • Dr.
  • Matijevic was involved in developing the "Sojourner", "Spirit", "Opportunity" and "Curiosity" rovers.
  • For his contributions to the rover projects, NASA named several landmarks on the planet Mars (including "Matijevic Hill" and "Jake Matijevic" rock) after him.Dr.
  • Matijevic was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Mount Carmel High School.
  • In 1969, he received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and, in 1973, earned a Ph.D.
  • degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago under the supervision of Irving Kaplansky.In 1981, Dr.
  • Matijevic began working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, as a control systems engineer.
  • In 1986, he worked in the telerobotics field and later, in 1992, began work with the Mars "Sojourner" rover.
  • This rover was delivered to Mars by the Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996.Afterwards, Dr.
  • Matijevic helped develop the "Spirit" and "Opportunity" rovers that began exploring Mars in 2004.
  • He also helped develop the "Curiosity" rover that landed on Mars in August 2012, just two weeks before his death.After his death, NASA decided to name a Mars hill, "Matijevic Hill", encountered by the "Opportunity" rover, and also a Mars rock, "Jake Matijevic", encountered by the "Curiosity" rover, in his honor for his many contributions to the Mars rover projects over the years.

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