J. “ Bob” Balaram
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| Born | (1959-06-28) June 28, 1959 (age 64) |
| Education | Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (MS, Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Chief Engineer for Ingenuity helicopter, which made the first extraterrestrial powered, controlled flight on April 19, 2021 |
| Awards | John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr. Award for Space Exploration from the Space Foundation.[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer and Systems Engineering, space science |
| Institutions | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
J. "Bob" Balaram (born 28 June 1959) is an Indian-American scientist and engineer currently working for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He is the chief engineer[2][3][4][5][6] and designer of Ingenuity (project name: Mars 2020 helicopter), the first extraterrestrial aircraft, that was attached underside of car-sized Perseverance rover that successfully landed on the Mars in February 2021.[7][8][9]
After schooling at Rishi Valley School, Balaram completed his Bachelor of Technology course from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India in 1980, and further went to receive his MS and Ph.D.inComputer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York.[7][10][11]
Bob joined NASA's JPL in 1985 after finishing his doctorate.[2] He has been working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the past 20 years in Mobility & Robotic Systems Department. During his time here, Bob has been actively engaged in the area of telerobotics technology development for several Mars rovers, planetary balloons, descent and landing technology, and surface mobility technology.[12][13] He is recipient of two NASA awards.[7][14][15]
In 2012 MiMi Aung was leading then JPL director Charles Elachi on a tour of the Autonomous Systems Division. Looking at the drones demonstrating onboard navigation algorithms in one of the labs, Elachi asked, “ Hey, why don't we do that on Mars?” Engineer Bob Balaram briefed Elachi about feasibility, and a week later Elachi told him, “ Okay, I’ve got some study money for you”. By January 2015 NASA agreed to fund the development of a full-size model, which came to be known as the “risk reduction” vehicle.[16]
