As the world watched the Mars rovers land in January, one ISU student breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his hard work pay off.

Chad Smith, senior in aerospace engineering, spent his summer interning in Pasadena, Calif., with NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories.

Smith became part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission and worked hands-on with the two rovers, “Spirit” and “Opportunity.”

“I wanted to work for NASA since I was a little kid,” Smith said.

Smith’s job at Jet Propulsion Laboratories was to work as a systems engineer on the testing side, for two different teams. The first team was working with the rover from when it landed until it rolled onto the surface.

The second team Smith participated in was a mobility and navigation team, which included working with driving, steering and maneuvering of the rover.

“It was an amazing accomplishment to not only send something all the way to Mars but also with having errors being so minimal,” Smith said. “Everything has to function perfectly for a mission to be this successful, and everyone has achieved this.”

Smith said he got the internship because he sent his information ahead of any other applicants. Smith had specifically hoped to work with Jet Propulsion Laboratories but did not know he would be working on the rover mission.

Most of the training Smith needed for the internship was provided on-site because the knowledge was local to the project. But Smith said he feels his professors at Iowa State prepared him with a lot of information, not only from the classroom but what he could expect and experience in the job world.

Dale Chimenti, professor of aerospace engineering, has worked with Smith in the classroom, as well as on a simulation for Smith’s senior project.

He wrote a letter of recommendation for Smith to help him get the internship and said Smith came back from the internship full of experience.

“That’s what we’re here for as faculty — to help students find the ability within themselves and give them inner strength and confidence,” Chimenti said.

Internships with NASA are very competitive and hard to achieve among college students, he said.

Some of Chimenti’s students have also interned with NASA in the past, but he said interns don’t often have the experience of such a high-profile mission.

“It’s very unusual for students to work hands-on that much, especially with a mission that’s on the front page of newspapers,” Chimenti said.

Smith said he is proud to have worked with such a highly mediated mission. He checks Jet Propulsion Laboratories’ Web pages on the rover at least every couple of days to monitor the rover’s progress.

“It makes me really happy to see NASA getting a certain amount of recognition that they deserve, but I wish they could get more for the work that they do,” he said.

Smith said he hopes government funding and support for NASA will continue to increase. He said NASA is capable of doing many good things if they had the money to do so.

Smith said he feels the largest reward this summer was being able to work with the people at NASA.

“The best of my experience was the amount I learned from all the people around me,” Smith said. “I was fulfilling my dream, and actually working for NASA was really satisfying.”