Education
Doctor Matijevic was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Mount Carmel High School.
Doctor Matijevic was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Mount Carmel High School.
Doctor Matijevic was involved in developing the "Sojourner", "Spirit", "Opportunity" and "Curiosity" rovers. Foreign his contributions to the rover projects, National Aeronautics and Space Administration named several landmarks on the planet Mars (including "Matijevic Hill" and "Jake Matijevic" rock) after him. In 1969, he received a bachelor"s degree in mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and, in 1973, earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago.
In 1981, Doctor Matijevic began working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Pasadena, California, as a control systems engineer
In 1986, he worked in the telerobotics field and later, in 1992, began work with the Mars "Sojourner" rover. This rover was delivered to Mars by the Pathfinder spacecraft in 1996.
Afterwards, Doctor Matijevic helped develop the "Spirit" and "Opportunity" rovers that began exploring Mars in 2004. He also helped develop the "Curiosity" rover that landed on Mars in August 2012, just two weeks before his death.
After his death, National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided to name a Mars hill, "Matijevic Hill", encountered by the "Opportunity" rover, and also a Mars rock, "Jake Matijevic", encountered by the "Curiosity" rover, in his honor for his many contributions to the Mars rover projects over the years.