I am employed by Ball Aerospace Technologies Corporation in Westminster ,Colorado. I am a Developmental Design Technician ..... I helped build the high gain antenna that is sending you the data and all of the pictures from Mars that you are viewing on the Internet!! Without the aid of our high gain antenna... none of the data and pictures that is coming back from the surface of Mars would be possible! The high gain antenna is no more than 12 inches in diameter and weighs about 5 pounds. It is made of aluminum,copper , adhesives and PTFE (Teflon Board Material). It works as a recieving and transmitting antenna.

I really didn’t get involved with the high gain antenna until the production end of it!! I was asked to do the final assembly of the antenna ..I built the cable and the connector and I also potted(Glued) the edge closure of the antenna I also made any solder joints that needed to be done. “I Actually Touched the High Gain Antenna!!!” The following is a story about my work on the antenna. Hope you like it!

My work bench and part of the antenna

“Hey Marty!!” Came the call of a Fellow worker of Mine, “I need you to Make a solder joint for me.” “Well, I’m Kinda Busy right now, But I think I can do it before the end of the day!” was my reply.

“OK, But it has to be a good job, we are being Inspected later”..” Well who’s it for?” I asked. “ A Program called “Mesur”” Was the Reply....” What the Hell is Mesur?” I asked....” I’m not sure..But I think it is something to do with Mars”......” Oh...OK..Just leave it on my Desk and I’ll get to it when I have a Chance!”

Later that Day I Finally finished the Job that had to be done...then I looked over and Caught sight of the Part that Needed to be soldered...I shrugged my shoulders, and said to myself, “Well ...If I don’t do it now I’ll get to it tomorrow.” It was getting late in the day and I was getting ready to go Home, When my Cohort came back and asked me if I had gotten the Solder Joint done?...I told him that I really didn’t have time to finish it that day, But... that I’d get to it the Next day.... He seemed to be a little discouraged and I told him that I’d do it before I left and that I’d leave it on his desk where he could find it the following Morning.

This Part Later turned out to be the Ground Block that connects the Braid from the Cable to the Ground Plane of the Antenna. A Very difficult part to solder because of the Size of the Ground block.,needing alot of heat for the Solder to flow Properly....I spent a good hour on this Joint because of the Restrictions that I was Under...I later found out that I was Building the Cable to be Used on the High Gain Antenna For a Mars Mission! What happened from One Solder Joint...turned out to be Full Involvement in the building of the High gain Antenna for the Mars Pathfinder Mission!

Once the Ground Block was done then came the Connector Pin Only one Solder Joint , but, a very Impotant Solder Joint. This is the Life of the Antenna..this Powers the Antenna. I had to make sure that there were no Nicks on the Center Conductor, I also had to make sure that the Braid was long enough to make a good ground Connection inside of the Connector....Every step of this Procedure was under the watchful eye of our Quality Department and also JPL...So Needless to say...I was extremely Nervous!..Knowing that this Antenna was going to Another world, I was being Extra Careful!

There is a Crimp on the Connector that had to be Tested for it’s Tensile strength!..I forget the Load that it had to endure, but it Passed with Flying Colors! Next I had to Put a Piece of Heat shrink over the crimp, so that any Undue bending to the Cable would Keep the Ground Braid from becoming weak and Fraying! Even that had some Tolerances that had to be met!

Next we had to Connect the Ground Block to the Ground Plane and also feed the Center Feed of the Cable through the Printed Antenna Board (PAB) without disturbing the Lay of the Wires on the Center Conductor wire. ( There are about 18 Tiny wires that make up the Center Feed) Once the Ground block and the Center feed were in Place then we had to Pot (glue) the Screws in Place ( what we call a wet install ) so that they can’t work themselves loose. Then it goes through a Cure time so that any disturbance won’t cause a bond Failure.(.Usually 24 hours ). Once the Bonding Procedure is Complete then We go in and Lay out the Wires of the Center conductor flat so that we get a Good Filleting Throughout the Complete soldering area!..No Holes or Voids are Accepted!!!.....For Me to be able to do these Soldering and Potting Procedures I had to attend Extensive Training Sessions and Pass The Tests at the end of the Training Courses....I did this solder Joint under a Microscope with about a Dozen People from our Quality department and JPL’s Quality department Peering over my shoulder ( talkd about being the Star of the show!!!) and everyone Wanting to see what I was doing!...When the solder joint was done then came Quality’s Turn to scrutinize the Work I had done...Well....it turned out that I had made a good solder joint and Everyone was Happy...and I could wipe my brow with Satisfaction of a Job well done!

When all of the Solering and Potting Procedures are completed then we Went into an Autoclave ( A very Large Oven ) to bond the Different Layers of the Antenna together. what we call Laminations. About an 8 hour Bake. Under Heat and Vacuum and Pressure. to Insure a good bond.

After the Autoclave Procedure is done then we do what is Known as a Health Check to Make sure all of the Previous Procedures were done Correctly...We Attach the Antenna to an Analyzer to Make sure that Our Antenna is Still working at the Proper Frequencies.

We then go to Our Antenna range where we Put the Antenna through Various tests simulating Actual Occurances that the Antenna Might Encounter.

Once the Antenna Passes the Range tests then we go to Environmental testing ..Where the Antenna is hooked up to an analyzer and Put into a Chamber that Will take it to Extreme Temperature Variations to simulate the temperatures that it will face while in Outer space.(..........Need to find out what the Specifications were.......).

After the Environmental Chamber We hook the Antenna back up to an analyzer and Mount the Antenna to a Vibration Fixture to Simulate the vibrations that the Antenna will endure during Liftoff and also the Extreme shock when it Crash Lands on the Surface of Mars......( Need this Spec also).

When all of these Specs are Met then we go through a Very Rigorous Quality Inspection to make sure everything was done according to the Specifications Layed out to us....Once this is Done then the Customer Buys off the Paperwork and It is then the Property of JPL...

The Whole Process that I just described doesn’t happen overnight...The building of the High Gain Antenna took about 2 Years from Inception, Design, Building, Testing, Quality, Delivery.

I am a native of the Mile High City of Denver Colorado. Around the internet I am also known as the Stargazer, Marty, and dhms. I have been married for 26 glorious years to a wonderful woman, “Cathy”. ...She Loves Me!!!..and I Love Her!!...

I have 2 children Andrea (24) and Louis II (19)

I also have 3 beautiful grandchildren..”Celi”..”Estevan”..”Mari”

My Mother also thinks that what I do for a living is great!!! ...Her name is Helen..Please say hello to her!!..she’d LOVE it!!! My Father, Pete Martinez, died about 26 years ago but...I’m Sure he’d be Proud!!!

Deb...The person that designed this page for me really had to persuade me to do this page because I wasn’t going to do a page at all!!! She thought that this story had to be told....So I’ll tell my story ..... I really think that she did a Fantastic Job! !!

.......So.....Please visit My Web page designer Deb at her homepage.