Miguel San Martín

Alejandro Miguel San Martín (January 6, 1959) is an Argentine engineer of NASA and a science educator. He is best known for his work as Chief Engineer for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control system in the latest missions to Mars. His best known contribution is the Sky Crane system, of which he is coinventor, used in the Curiosity mission for the descent of the rover.

In addition to his work as an engineer, he is dedicated to giving presentations about the work he does with his team at NASA. He has participated as a speaker at various events such as Campus Party, Robotics Day, Real Talks Atlanta and TEDx Río de la Plata, among other conferences. He is featured in the NASA video "Curiosity Seven Minutes of Terror" along with other Curiosity engineers.

Early life and career Miguel San Martín pauses to hold back tears as he leads the Entry, Descent and Landing team into the post-landing news briefing. He left Argentina after he graduated from industrial school, moving to the United States to get a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science, being named Engineering Student of the Year.

In various interviews he said that he decided to be a space engineer on a winter's night in 1976 at his parents’ farm, while he listened to the BBC on short wave reporting the arrival of the Viking mission to Mars.

Awards 1998, 2013: NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal 2013: Outstanding Engineering Achievement Merit Award - The Engineers' Council 2013: Collier Trophy for the Curiosity Team - National Aeronautic Association 2013: National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement - Smithsonian Institution 2013: Premio Konex: Diploma al Mérito en Desarrollo Tecnológico - La Fundación Konex 2013: Best Paper Award: 23rd AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Conference - AAS/AIAA 2019: He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for technical contributions and leadership in guidance, navigation, and control leading to successful Mars entry, descent, and landing.