'Mohawk Guy' Bobak Ferdowsi's fame is only the tip of NASA's geek culture

"TechKnow" contributor Phil Torres went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., to talk with NASA flight director Bobak Ferdowsi about the Mars Curiosity Rover—but it's hard to be face-to-face with the famous "Mohawk Guy," as he was dubbed during the Rover launch, and not end up discussing memes.

"I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to it," Ferdowsi says. "I don’t think anyone goes into engineering thinking, 'Oh, I’m going to get called out the President one day.'"

The Curiosity Rover launch was an online phenomenon, bolstered by a live Ustream broadcast and specialized social media accounts. Ferdowsi says this level of accessibility has allowed the public to see another side of NASA.

"I think this is actually part of the whole NASA culture that people didn't realize before," he says. "We have pictures of people at launches and landings during the 60s and they have Vulcan ears on. For the Viking missions, they actually wore Viking helmets."

For someone who's landed a vehicle on Mars, however, the concept of fame still seems pretty far out.

"It's definitely surreal," Ferdowsi says. "I mean, I enjoy memes. We used to make our own little memes. So then, to become one of those, was definitely a little trippy."

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