A NASA engineer who helped with the launch of the Mars Perseverance Rover is not ashamed of her humble roots in Binan City, Laguna.
Also, Yang worked as a Science Planner, Sequence Integration Engineer, Data Management Engineer, and a Payload Downlink Coordinator on Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover during its launch, cruise, entry, descent, landing, and onto the surface which landed at Gale Crater.
TOUCHDOWN!
After a seven-month-long journey, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Perseverance Rover successfully landed on Mars last February 18.
Behind the success of 2020 Mars Perseverance Rover; landing and first drive on the Red Planet, there is a woman, a Biñan pride who participated in the said project, and worked hard to make it possible.
Genevie Velarde - Yang is a proud Biñanense. She came from a small family in Barangay San Jose, and moved in to California with her family at the age of five (5).
In an interview, Yang said that she barely remembers anything about the Philippines.
But she recalls how quiet and clean Biñan was even during those times from the stories shared by her mother, Thelma Nuqui- Velarde.
According to Thelma Velarde, they grew up fearing nothing; they would play outside without fear of being kidnapped or ran over, and also shared how they loved eating pospas at Tonyo’s and halo-halo at Biñan Public Market after school.
Currently, Genevie Velarde - Yang is happily married to Daniel Yang and is blessed with a 16-year old daughter.
Aside from being a wonderful wife and a mother, Yang is a Flight System Engineer for Operations at NASA.
She played and still contributing a big role on the journey of the 2020 Perseverance Rover.
“My last 4 years, I worked on Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover helping Flight Software test to make sure their requirements are being met, and 2 years before we launched, I transferred back to Operations to help the Uplink team to build and send commands to the spacecraft/rover,” Yang said.
She has been working with NASA in Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 20 years now.
Yang first started to help out the Cassini Mission involved with touring Saturn and its moons, before she moved onto the EPOXI Mission to help track a flyby comet named Hartley-2.
Also, Yang worked as a Science Planner, Sequence Integration Engineer, Data Management Engineer, and a Payload Downlink Coordinator on Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover during its launch, cruise, entry, descent, landing, and onto the surface which landed at Gale Crater.
Yang described herself as a very independent person growing up; who prefers to explore, and would not stay put in one place, someone who prefers comfortable clothes rather than the fancy ones, and someone who loves playing sports such as volleyball, hockey and snowboarding.
“I think taking chances is always scary. But I like the quote where the child is asking, ‘What if I fall,’ and the parent responds saying, ‘But what if you fly?”, Yang said.
The one who influenced Yang to take up Engineering is her father, Antonio Carino Velarde, hoping that she would someday work with him at California Edison - a primary electricity supply company in Southern California.
After graduating with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at California Polytechnic University of Pomona, Yang had an experience working with different companies.
But she decide to stay at NASA because of the amazing people she works with and learns from every day.
“Failure is scary, but to us at Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA, we learn from our failures and that’s what makes us great. None of us are perfect, we are human and we make mistakes, it’s about learning and growing from them to help everyone. So don’t be scared and take that first step,” she said.
(KT)
Genevie Velarde - Yang from Biñan City Information Office