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| After 2 weeks I have no pictures of Jesse except with him bent over a an engine |
Jesse lives in Tennessee where he is pursuing an AA in Mechanical Engineering. His ultimate goal is to be a pilot (specifically to fly small planes in the Arctic). How he ended up as a permanent staff member of the Mars Institute is a story of a fortunate meeting. With the contacts he's made here he hopes to stop at least briefly in his career at either The Johnson Space Center or the Ames Research Facility in Mountainview CA.
6 1/2 years ago Pascal Lee was teaching at the University of Tennessee. Since his course was only 3 months long he rented a room near the university. It just so happened that his temporary landlords were Jesse's grandparents. Over the months Pascal saw Jesse tear apart and rebuild off road bikes, ATVs and just about anything with an engine. Pascal invited Jesse to Devon Island to support the camp vehicles. According to Jesse he really didn't expect anything to come of it until one day in early June when Pascal called to make travel arrangements for him. At the time Jesse had just turned 16.
That was 6 seasons ago and now Jesse does EVERYTHING in camp. He is the back-up fgor many of the critical functions. He has also been trained at a Humvee factory so he can service those vehicles. Which has included replacing tires with tank like tracks and repairing/rebuilding those tracks while stranded on the ice between Resolute Bay and Devon Island.
Jesse has also developed skills as a scout for traverses. He rides an ATV in front of the Humvee to ensure that the large vehichle does not go off a clifff. hit a rock, hit soft sand or break through ice or an some traverse all of the above.
Jesse is featured in Packing for Mars by Mary Roach (chapter 9)
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