Dare Mighty Things: Fly on Mars

THE motto of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is well known around the globe: “Dare Mighty Things”. The origins of the phrase are an 1899 speech by Theodore Roosevelt, in which he said: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat” [1]. These words are powerful; they set the culture of this NASA center. At JPL, innovation is our life blood and engineers are encouraged to be creative and to dream big. While some believe that it is a company’s responsibility to foster an environment that truly and honestly encourages their people to be innovators, I see this somewhat differently. The culture of a company comes from their staff. Each individual brings their own experience, character, talents, and background which contributes to an innovative environment. Where I work, we are surrounded by engineers from different schools, diverse nationalities, ethnicities, etc. As a result, we all approach challenges differently. Young engineers – with their boldness and enthusiasm - are crucial to creating a work environment where traditional approaches set by past successes or by technological limitations are challenged.