Daniel Limonadi is a senior flight systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.   head shot

Daniel Limonadi

Senior flight systems engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Daniel Limonadi is a senior flight systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.  His job since 2009 has been as “Phaselead” (also known as systems engineering team lead) for the Surface Sampling and Science aspects of the Curiosity rover.  Before that he worked at the lead payload accommodation engineer for Curiosity.  Prior to the Curiosity rover project Daniel worked on the Mars Exploration Rovers during development and operations, did a very short stint as surface systems engineer for the original Mars Smart Lander concept that eventually turned into Curiosity, and also worked at Hughes Space and Communications on Geosynchronous communications satellites.

Latest Articles

Sampling Mars, Part 4: Commissioning the Rover and Sampling System

Completing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 4 explains the lengthy process of testing and using the system for the first time.

Sampling Mars, Part 3: Key Challenges in Drilling for Samples

Continuing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 3 explains why drilling is hard, and what the team is doing to prevent things from going wrong.

Sampling Mars, Part 2: Science Instruments SAM and Chemin

Continuing a multi-part guest blog series by Curiosity systems engineering team lead for the Surface Sampling and Science system. Part 2 explains the science instruments SAM and Chemin.