Kobie Boykins became an engineer because he wanted to be “that guy who figures out how to design and build things to function at their highest level.” Well, he’s succeeded. Kobie is a principal mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where he has worked since graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In more than twenty-five years at the lab, he has worked on every Mars mission since the Pathfinder mission, which took the first Rover, “Sojourner,” to Mars in 1996. Later, Kobie designed the solar arrays that powered the Mars Exploration Rovers, “Spirit” and “Opportunity.” Those Rovers landed in 2004 and were expected to perform for 90 days, but they lived for six years and fourteen years, respectively, sending images and data back to Earth and discovering that the surface of Mars once held water.
Next, Kobie led the mobility and remote sensing teams for Mars Science Laboratory rover, “Curiosity,” designing the actuators that powered the 7-ft. tall rover with a 7-ft arm that operates 10 different tools and 17 cameras, collecting rock, soil and air samples, taking photographs, and operating a laser. Curiosity launched from Cape Canaveral in November, 2011, and landed on Mars in August, 2012. This rover also outlived its predicted life and NASA extended its initial 2-year mission indefinitely. As of May 2021, it continues to send back images and data.