Roaming Mars Began with the Dream of a Red Wagon

As Earth’s closet neighbor Mars fascinates many people, is the subject of countless science fiction novels and movies and poses the seemingly elusive question: Is there life on other planets? 

Putting aside images of green aliens flying UFOs, Dr. Keith Comeaux, deputy chief engineer of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance landing, said the mission seeks signs of past microbial life and is possibly preparing for future human missions.

As a child who grew up in the Sherwood Forest area of Baton Rouge and attended St. Thomas More Church, Comeaux said he was fascinated with aircraft rockets and spaceships.

“I can remember as a kid watching the Apollo 11 moon landing. It was very early on (in my life) for me,” said Comeaux, a 1985 Catholic High School in Baton
Rouge graduate and a 2013 Distinguished Graduate.

He remembers pretending his little red wagon was a space capsule. When his parents attended LSU football games his grandfather would pull him in his “capsule” from the back of his house to the front stoop. 

They would watch the streetlights come on and stargaze together. His grandmother told Comeaux that he would live on the moon one day. 

As the first Skylab experimental space stations missions began, Comeaux remembers cheering at the successes, including astronauts spending months in space and the splashdowns.

“Those moments really captured my imagination,” he said.

Comeaux was also interested in building model airplanes and had dreams of becoming a pilot. 

His parents encouraged his interest by introducing him to model airplanes and other science related “toys” at Christmas, including a telescope, microscope, chemistry set, electronics set and optical kit, among others. Summer vacations included visits to the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida as well as Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

“By the time I was in high school, I put it all together – I was good in math, interested in science, loved airplanes – I was going to be an aerospace engineer and perhaps a fighter pilot or astronaut,” said Comeaux. 

His hopes of becoming an Air Force pilot were dashed by falling short of the required 20/20 vision. Yet, he clearly envisioned a mission to help with space exploration.

He graduated from LSU with a degree in mechanical engineering and physics and then attended Stanford University, where he received his master’s and doctorate degrees in astronautics and aeronautics. 

After college he went to work for Hughes Aircraft,  which was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes. It was there he became fascinated with working on the development of new satellite equipment. This is where he also met fellow Hughes employee, and now wife, Cecilia. They have twin children Evie and Max.

In 2006 Comeaux was working for Hughes, now part of Boeing Company, when he received a call from a former colleague who had left Hughes for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and worked with the Spirit and Opportunity Mars exploration rovers. He told Comeaux, “Come work with me, there’s a new land rover and we’re going to Mars with it.”

“It was crazy, it was too good to pass up,” said Comeaux. “This job led to (my role in) the landing of the Curiosity rover.”

He said his “inner tiger” roared in jubilant celebration as Curiosity gently touched down on the surface of Mars. 

That success led him to becoming chief deputy engineer for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission.

One of the most remarkable elements about Perseverance’s touch down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 is the preparation was carried out in the midst of the pandemic, said Comeaux, who worked from his beachside home in Redondo Beach, California on the project.

There was a lot of intense testing and analysis to see if Perseverance, nicknamed Percy, could handle the realities of landing on the varied, rough terrain on Jezero Crater, he said.

“Really it’s one of the hardest things we’ve done so far since we’ve gone to Mars,” said Comeaux.

Tucked in Perseverance’s belly was Ingenuity, the first helicopter to go to Mars. Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, will scout targets of interest on Mars and help plan the best driving routes for future Mars rovers.

Perseverance will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA’s quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. Perseverance will also test technologies to help pave the way for future human exploration.

Comeaux conceded it takes patience and perseverance as engineers and scientists work together for the mission’s success.

“The scientists remind us that we are going there to study the rocks. And the engineers remind the scientists that if we don’t land successfully there is no mission,” said Comeaux. “We have a relationship, we need each other. We find a way to combine the interests of science and engineering to safely explore these danger areas.”

Comeaux said it’s interesting to learn about the study of rocks, such as geological history and what generated the rocks. 

Even returning the rocks to Earth speaks of an international interest in exploring Martian territory. In 2020, spacecraft from three nations were launched for Mars: NASA’s Perseverance Rover, China’s Tianwen-1 and the United Arab Emirates’ Hope. 

This brings competition but also possibilities for corroboration. NASA and the European Space Agency are collaborating on a concept to build and launch a lander that will send a small fetch rover to collect tubes of rocks left by Perseverance to bring them back to the lander.

Even with his sites heavenward, Comeaux remains connected to his faith, family and Baton Rouge. His parents and family still live in Baton Rouge, and he is a member of the LSU Dean’s Circle, LSU Engineering Hall of Distinction, LSU College of Science Hall of Distinction and LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction.

 “I usually get back for crawfish season and at least once for LSU football season,” said Comeaux.

Reflecting on his career, Comeaux said, “Now that I think of it it’s been very, very, rewarding, even more so than if I were an astronaut or pilot. 

“We’re rewriting the textbooks by what our missions have been able to discover.”

Even more exciting for Comeaux than what the current Mars missions will discover is inspiring young people to write the next chapter in space exploration.

“So many kids have an interest in doing what we do,” he said. “Whether they are able to become astronauts or planetary scientists, that spark of curiosity I think can stay with them no matter what their endeavors are.

“When I was at LSU, landing rovers on another planet was not even conceivable to me. Kids today will one day help shape our future in ways that we cannot yet imagine. I am humbled to know that I may have a small part in nudging a few of them in that direction. And the advice I share based on my own experience is this: ‘Shoot for the stars, but always follow your curiosity. If you get lucky, instead of a star, you may land on Mars.’ ”