A scientific study of the problems of
digital engineering for space flight systems,
with a view to their practical solution.
2002 MAPLD
International Conference Panel
Wednesday Evening, September 11, 2002
Tony Spear, Jet Propulsion Lab, Consultant
Biography
Tony Spear was employed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, from 1992 to 1998. He received the BSEE from Carnegie Mellon in 1962, an MSEE from USC IN 1970, and an ME Executive Engineering Management degree from UCLA IN 1973. His served in the Air Force as a jet aircraft radio technician from 1954 to 1958.
After retiring from JPL, Tony's activities included:
- Project Management Consulting
- Motivational presentations based on the Mars Pathfinder experience
- Supported start up companies for commercial space exploration missions: asteroids, the Moon, and Mars
- Conducted a "Faster, Better, Cheaper" (FBC) Assessment for NASA. How to improve it. What is it's future?
Tony's history at JPL consists of:
- 60's and early '70s: Started out as a deep space telecommunications systems engineer working on the Mariner missions to Mars, Venus, and Mercury.
- 1975: Designed the Viking Mars mission orbiter to lander relay link.
- Mid '70s: Advanced project planning for the deep space tracking network.
- Late '70s: Managed the design and development of three microwave radars and one radiometer for SEASAT, including the first high resolution space synthetic aperture imager.
- Early '80s: Managed the development of Army Intelligence's mobile All Source, Intelligence Data Processing System (ASAS).
- Late '80s-'91: worked on Magellan, the Venus Orbiter Imaging Radar (VOIR), becoming Project Manager in 1989. The primary mission was successfully completed in 1991.
- Early '90s: Conducted a study of FBC methods for deep-space robotic missions.
- '92-'97: Mars Pathfinder Project Manager, an FBC mission. The primary mission was successfully completed in 1997.
- '97-'98: Manager of the Deep Space advanced technology program.
Tony Spear is a native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, born in 1936. His hobbies include golf, hiking, skiing, and gardening.
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