A 25-year veteran of the Jet Propulsion Lab tells how on Earth he became an engineer and what it took to nail the landing on a planet 140 million miles away.

"Curiosity" is the name of NASA's Mars rover that Adam Steltzner and his team safely delivered to the planet's surface four years ago. Adam's own curiosity is what led him from a late start to become a celebrated engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He talked about why he believes that in the long view, curiosity is the essential quality for civilization to continue to realize its potential.

Adam Steltzner previously spoke in Long Now's Seminars About Long-term Thinking series in 02013; we were thrilled to have him back to speak at The Interval. He discussed his own curious journey and the creative, collaborative teamwork that characterizes his work at the Lab followed by Q&A; with Long Now's Stewart Brand.