What an enthralling and fascinating interview! Professor Squyres’ insights, dedication and impressive commitment to the mission and his other projects really shines through and makes the interview a very human, energising, inspirational and riveting read. You almost walk the tortuous journey with Professor Squyres and wonder at the obsessive dedication required to overcome the many hurdles, and accommodate the numerous sacrifices made along the way.
I also admire the strength of his wife and family in coping with the impact of the mission on their family life. It felt like an emotional roller coaster ride, reading about the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the successes and partial failures and I just had not appreciated how long it takes to get these missions off the drawing board – wow!
The keenness and enthusiasm of Mike also helped contribute to the very lively tempo of the interview – I particularly liked the question, and response, describing a typical “day at the office” in Professor Squyres life.
Reading about the working relationship and different, yet complementary skills and motivation of the scientific and engineering teams was also very illuminating.
Thanks guys – simply fantastic!
Dennis