NASA Named A Site On Mars After Namibian Scientist

JPL engineers observing a successful touchdown of the InSight lander in 2018. Van Zyl is sixth from the left. NASA/BILL INGALLS ASA/JPL has ...

JPL engineers observing a successful touchdown of the InSight lander in 2018. Van Zyl is sixth from the left. NASA/BILL INGALLS

ASA/JPL has bestowed the honor of naming two sites on Mars after prominent individuals—a renowned American author and a distinguished Namibian engineer. Octavia Butler, an acclaimed Black Afro-American science fiction writer, and Jakob van Zyl, a former NASA senior director hailing from Namibia, have now become an integral part of the Perseverance rover mission and the Ingenuity helicopter flights on Mars.

Octavia Butler, known for her visionary storytelling and her belief in crafting superior narratives compared to those typically found in B-grade science fiction, has been immortalized with a site on Mars named in her honor. Similarly, Jakob van Zyl, a brilliant engineer and manager who spent his formative years in Namibia, a remote region of Africa, where he gazed at the stars and dreamt of space exploration, has also been recognized with a site bearing his name on the red planet.

These designated sites on Mars, named after Octavia Butler and Jakob van Zyl, now mark the landing location of the Perseverance rover and serve as a vantage point to observe the historic flights of the Ingenuity helicopter. Kathryn Stack Morgan, the deputy project scientist of the Mars 2020 rover mission, explains that it has become a tradition for Mars rover teams to bestow the names of individuals they wish to commemorate upon the landing sites.

The inclusion of Octavia Butler and Jakob van Zyl in the legacy of Mars exploration showcases their remarkable contributions to their respective fields and highlights the diversity and significance of their achievements. Their names will forever be associated with the ongoing mission of the Perseverance rover, leaving an indelible mark on the history of space exploration.

JPL engineers celebrate the successful touchdown of the InSight lander in 2018. Van Zyl is sixth from the left. NASA/BILL INGALLS

The model we used was the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover mission, which named its site after (science fiction author) Ray Bradbury in 2012. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory designated the Perseverance rover’s landing site as the Octavia E. Butler Landing on March 5, just 13 days after touchdown on the Martian surface.

• JPL plans Ingenuity's first test flight late Sunday. Here's the story.

The rover will use an observation point designated as the Van Zyl Overlook to record Ingenuity helicopter tests, JPL said on March 23. 

''There was a bright man Jakob, anyone who met him left feeling better about themselves. He was a warm, optimistic, energetic person.'' — Robert Braun, director of Planetary Science 

Van Zyl has a strong personal connection to the Mars 2020 staff. Many of them worked alongside him on some of JPL's most notable missions. The helicopter tests are the first powered flights on another planet. The observation area was originally called "Twitcher's Point," a reference to the British term "twitcher", used for someone who will travel a long distance to see a rare bird. Both designations add personal touches and human faces to an ambitious, much-anticipated space mission in which unmanned vehicles are the stars.  

Mars site that named "Van Zyl Overlook'' after him / NASA

The location where NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will observe the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's attempt at powered controlled flight at Mars is called "Van Zyl Overlook," after Jakob van Zyl. Van Zyl was the team's longtime colleague, mentor, and leader at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. He passed away unexpectedly in August 2020, about a month after the launch of Perseverance. 

Van Zyl joined JPL in 1986 and served in crucial roles at the Lab over a 33-year career, including as director for the Astronomy and Physics Directorate, associate director for project formulation and strategy, and finally director for the Solar System Exploration Directorate. 

As a leader of solar system exploration at JPL, he oversaw successful operations of such NASA missions as Juno, Dawn, and Cassini, the implementation of the Mars InSight lander and MarCO CubeSats, as well as the ongoing development of Europa Clipper, Psyche, and all of JPL's instruments and Ingenuity.

Inspired by science fiction

In talking about Butler, people on the JPL team said "so many of us were inspired by science fiction, to become scientists, engineers and pursue space exploration," Stack Morgan says. The designation was also "a way to reach beyond the planetary science community that, like many other STEM fields, is not very diverse." 

Stack Morgan says."By naming the Perseverance landing site in honor of Octavia E. Butler, we were hoping to make a connection between the mission and someone who has served as an inspiration and connection to science for those typically underrepresented in the planetary science community, and STEM fields more broadly."

'We couldn't have gotten there without him.'

The designations also give close-knit JPL teams a chance to pay tribute to a colleague. Van Zyl who passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 63 on Aug. 24, a month after the Perseverance launch. He is survived by his wife, Kalfie, and two siblings. He retired from the JPL in 2019 after a 33-year career that included a number of management positions. After his retirement, he co-founded Hydrosat, a startup to develop satellites to measure ground moisture for agricultural applications.

''The Ingenuity helicopter was one of his last projects at the JPL. "Engineers are kind of viewed as the dispassionate, running-the-numbers-spreadsheets kind of people, but as you've seen from these celebration videos, it's a very human experience, too." — Tim Canham, Mars helicopter operations lead.''

''Jakob meant a lot to everyone at JPL, the Ingenuity team in particular," says Robert Braun, director of Planetary Science. Van Zyl was his predecessor. ''When the Perseverance and Ingenuity teams decided to name this overlook in his honor, I thought it was perfect. If he were here today, he would be looking over the team and wishing them well. There's something poetic, something that just feels right about this.''

Van Zyl was "in many ways our benefactor at JPL," says Tim Canham, Mars helicopter operations lead."He was the one who went out and rustled up support for us. He's been highly influential over the years for a lot of these technology demonstrators. We couldn't have gotten there without him."

NASA will cite Octavia Butler and Jakob van Zyl in mission reports and scientific papers, ensuring each a place in space exploration history. It's a fitting honor because, despite their vastly different backgrounds, both were drawn to the stars. Both traveled a long way to the peak of their professions. Read the full story here.