IEEE Spectrum February, 2011 - 28

Dream

Engineer
Your Destiny

Jobs

"i don't have a typical
anything," Bessone
remarks later. "My job
always changes so
dramatically: computer
science, engineering,
training, psychology,
geology. There are so many
things that I keep learning."
With all the caving
and diving and bumbling
around in space suits,
fitness is key. Not one extra
kilogram finds refuge
on Bessone's wiry frame.
Being multilingual is also
essential. She was prepared
for that by an accident of
geography: Bessone grew
up in the Piedmont region
of Italy speaking the local
dialect, which is closer to
French than Italian. Now
she's ﬂuent in all three,
plus German, English, and
Spanish. Two beginner's
Russian books on her shelf
speak to her next conquest.
Her technical skills also
came naturally. As a child,
Bessone was in love with
28

astrophysics, the stuff of
star births and black holes.
She couldn't afford to attend
a school with a strong
astrophysics program, so
she studied informatics
at the University of
Turin, an hour's drive
from her hometown. She
completed a master's
degree in informatics
while working at CERN,
the European nuclear
research center in Geneva.
In 1990, ESA hired her
for a student job in Cologne.
A few months later, she got
a real offer. She broke the
news to her mother during a
visit home. "I told her, 'Mom,
I need to tell you something
you won't like,' " Bessone
says. "She looked at me,
worried, and asked, 'Are you
getting married?' " Bessone
explained that she would
be staying in Germany. Her
mother breathed a sigh
of relief. "Good," she said.
"You can end that when you
want without trouble."
In 2001 ESA asked
Bessone to research a
human voyage to Mars,
and her training work
began. The dream of
the Red Planet lingers
in her work today.
Her caves lesson, for one,
is about being isolated and
confined in the dark. But
there's more: If there's life
on Mars, Bessone thinks it
will be found in the relative
warmth of caves, and
astronauts may one day
need those spelunking skills.
She realizes she may
have retired to a town in
the mountains by then. For
now, though, like the tough
little creatures she believes
lurk on a distant planet,
she thrives.
-Sally Adee

NA * iEEE SpEctrum * fEbruAry 2011

good ca r eer a dv ice ca n be tough to find.
w e've r educed it to the ba r e e ssenti a ls

How
optimistic
are you?

VERY-SHOOT
FOR THE
STARS!

BY
CONQUERING
THE OCEAN
FLOOR?

I'M A
REALIST

WITH A
LASER?

GET US
OFF THE
PLANET?

POWER
ROCKETS WITH
LASERS!

JORDIN
KARE
Page 33

Then what
would you
improve?
OUR KNOWLEDGE OF
THE BRAIN

FLY, GLoBe, roBot, FrAme: istocKPhoto

Communication soon
breaks down entirely.
The astronauts tell the
Eurocomms to "send
battery L1 down lift L1."
"What the hell is L1?!"
explodes a Eurocomm.
Grating Klaxons clang in
the players' ears-system
failure is imminent.
"We said lift one. Are you
deaf?" snaps the Canadian.
The mission ends in
disaster: The ship hurtles
into Venus's gravity well.
After the last alarm dies out,
there's only defeated silence.
"So," Bessone says drily
from the corner where
she has been scribbling
notes. "What could we
have done better?"

BUILD VIRTUAL
REALITY
PLAYGROUNDS
FOR FLIES
AND RATS

GUS
LOTT

THE HUMAN
EXPERIENCE

Would
you
rather...

AMUSE
ADULTS?

Page 31

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum February, 2011
