#DTX2021: Adapt to Succeed During Times of Great Disruption, Says Astronaut Adam Steltzner

Astronaut Adam Steltzner, NASA JPL, outlined six principles that organizations of all sectors need to embrace in order to navigate significant changes to their environment. His insights can be seen as especially relevant to cybersecurity teams that continue to deal with the digital shift and growing threat landscape during COVID-19.

Speaking during the keynote session on day two of the Digital Transformation EXPO 2021 (DTX) in Excel London, Steltzner explained the enormous challenges he and his team at NASA had to overcome to land the Perseverance land rover on the surface of Mars in February this year. This mission is part of an ongoing journey of discovery about the red planet, principally answering the question as to whether life has ever, or indeed currently, exists there.

NASA also successfully flew the helicopter Ingenuity above the surface of Mars during this mission, despite fears that it would be impossible to fly in a planet that contains atmosphere less than 1% of that of Earth's.

None of this could be adequately tested on Earth, due to the atmospheric conditions being so far removed from that of Mars. Therefore, the key to ensuring the mission was successful was a willingness to adapt plans, and show “grit” to persevere in all conditions, according to Steltzner. He said that Ingenuity almost didn’t make it to Mars’ surface — the initial plan to fold it into two and be tucked between a pair of wheels had to be changed “late in the development” to ensure it could land safely.

Steltzner then set out lessons he learned from his experience working with Perseverance and Ingenuity, and argued thes ..

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