Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering underpins nearly every system that makes Mars exploration possible, from the power that keeps a rover alive to the radio signals that carry its discoveries back to Earth. Electrical engineers design the circuits, power systems, sensors, and communications hardware that allow machines and, eventually, humans to function on a world where a dead battery or a failed transmitter can end a mission.

Power and communication are the twin pillars of the discipline on Mars. Solar arrays and nuclear power sources must be engineered to deliver reliable energy through dust storms and frigid nights, and the loss of solar power during a global dust storm has already ended at least one rover mission. Communications engineers design the systems that bridge the vast Earth-Mars distance, where signals take minutes to arrive and orbiters must relay data from the surface. Sensors, avionics, and control electronics tie every other system together.

Programs in electrical engineering cover circuits, electronics, power systems, signal processing, and communications. Graduates build the electrical backbone of Mars missions — the power, control, and communication systems without which no spacecraft or rover could operate.