Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) systems engineer Bobak Ferdowsi helps search for alien life in all the right places and is a crowd favorite when it comes to building robotic spacecraft and solving complex aerospace problems, all while sporting a super cool mohawk hairdo.
Currently, Ferdowsi serves as Fault Protection lead on NISAR’s joint Earth observation mission with India and Europe Clipper’s Mission Planner at NASA’s JPL. Previous responsibilities include Launch, Cruise, Approach Engineering Lead and Flight Director of Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity and Science Planner of the Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn system.
Ferdowsi, the “NASA Mohawk Guy,” was an integral part of the Curiosity Rover’s Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) team for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when he gained instant internet fame with his radical Captain America hairstyle (accented in red and blue with white accents). stars on the shaved sides) during the live television broadcast of Curiosity’s Red Planet landing on August 6, 2012.
Related: Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ Is a Riveting Story About a Hostile Alien Invasion (Review)
Ferdowsi recently appeared in a cameo for the eighth and final episode of Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” the alien invasion miniseries from “Game of Thrones,” David Benioff and DB Weiss, and “True Blood’s” Alexander Woo. During the doomed Staircase Project sequence in which an experimental probe carrying Will’s brain was launched to rendezvous with the San-Ti invasion fleet, Ferdowsi calmly portrayed a fictional mission director making routine tracking calls.
We caught up with the popular rocket scientist to discuss his work as a scientific consultant and actor on ‘3 Body Problem,’ using veteran director Jeremy Podeswa’s cues from the episode, and the feasibility of the show’s nano-sail probe that was pushed into deep space by a satellite. series of activated nuclear bombs.
Space.com: How did you become involved with “3 Body Problem” and were you familiar with Cixin Liu’s trilogy of novels from which the series was adapted?
Bobak Ferdowsi: DB Weiss, one of the showrunners, was a mutual friend of someone and a while ago I met him and we chatted and started working together. During the pandemic, we were catching up over drinks in his backyard and he mentioned that he was working on “3 Body Problem” as a possible opportunity. He asked if I wanted to read it and if I liked it. Another friend gave me the books and I was deeply fascinated. Six months or a year later he told me they were going to do it and he wanted to bring me on board as a technical advisor. That’s what I initially signed up for and we started working on those scenes there, specifically for the mission director.
When they asked if I would be interested in playing the role myself, I was a little hesitant; I’m not an actor. But one of my goals in life is to challenge myself and put myself in uncomfortable situations and see how I do. They are a supportive team and I knew they wouldn’t let me fail and do a terrible job.
Space.com: Where did you travel to film and how long did it take to shoot your scenes?
Ferdowsi: We filmed in the summer of 2022 and of course it came out in March, so almost two years apart. It was done outside London at Shepperton Studios and it was a fun experience. A friend of mine is a composer and you went to the sound stage where they recorded stuff where they recorded the original “Star Trek” music. It’s very practical, it seems, and less nostalgic in Shepperton than on some Hollywood stages.
I love it because I enjoy seeing how things are built, and that’s why I’m an engineer. I think on some level shows are no different. This person is tasked with making this part work and it is like any other malfunction. These are huge, coordinated efforts across both sectors.
I was on that set for two days. I deliver my lines and we shot most of my stuff pretty quickly in the second half of the second day. What was new for me was doing the ADR work afterwards, recreating the lines for changes and updates based on how the edit looked.
Space.com: What direction did Jeremy Podeswa give you for your performance?
Ferdowsi: Above all, he tried to be very supportive. I was sweating profusely the moment he shouted, “Action!” He said, “That was great, can you give me a little more emotion?” Especially when things took a turn for the worse with the probe. For the most part, it made sure that my lines were clear and that I was trying to get as authentic a performance out of me as possible. We had a bigger backstory about the mission and the lead up to it. That element was reduced to a few seconds on screen.
Space.com: How accurate is the science behind the “3 Body Problems” Staircase Project?
Ferdowsi: I don’t think anyone has demonstrated that exactly. We have elements that have certainly been proposed in the past for nuclear explosion-powered missions, in particular the idea of dropping bombs behind a pusher plate and using the explosions to propel the probe. I think Jin references that earlier in the season and one of the other scientists dismisses the idea by saying you can’t get enough mass out of all the bombs.
For this we used existing things such as lightsail technology that uses the photons of the sun. Or if you look at something like Project Starshot, the project that was proposed a few years ago with the laser-accelerated lightsail. That’s a similar concept. In this case, we use the electromagnetic impulse from the bomb to accelerate and push off the lightsail itself.
The hardest part in reality would be: can you get the timing and position accuracy to that level, controlling both the amount of acceleration and the direction of the sail’s angle of attack to be correct? If you start talking about speeds of fifty miles per second, and of course it gets faster and faster as you go, how exactly could you time all these events and optimize your trajectory?
Space.com: What was your favorite part of being on set for this sci-fi production?
Ferdowsi: On a technical level, I think my favorite part was seeing how things work. Like many people, I wish I could experience more than one career in my life. Getting a glimpse of that was amazing. The other part was that it’s such a great group of people and that’s a testament to the showrunners creating that environment. Everyone was so friendly and kind and supportive.
We walked away with friends and I am in contact with many people. It got me thinking about how I would create the same healthy, positive environments where everyone feels like they are on the same team as I do my daily work. That was one of the big highlights for me.
“3 Body Problem” is currently streaming all episodes exclusively on Netflix.