Episode 31: Autonomous Flight and Landing on Mars with Behçet Açikmeşe

Khari Douglas interviews Dr. Behçet Açikmeşe. Behçet was a technologist and a senior member of the Guidance and Control (G&C) Analysis Group at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 2003 to 2012 where he developed guidance, control, and estimation algorithms for formation-flying spacecraft and distributed networked systems, proximity operations around asteroids and comets, and planetary landing. He is currently a Professor in Aeronautics & Astronautics, as well as Electrical & Computer Engineering, at the University of Washington and a member of their Autonomous Controls Lab. In this episode, Dr. Açikmeşe discuss his time at JPL and what it takes to land a rover on Mars. Listen to the episode below or find on your preferred platform here. Download the podcast transcript here.