From Mars to the Moon

As millions watched the Perseverance rover make its dramatic descent onto Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, Nick Morales (MSR '23) felt a spark ignite within him.

The live stream from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory captivated the then-industrial automation engineer, setting him on a path to the forefront of lunar exploration.

“I will never forget the camera footage of the heat shield separation and the skycrane maneuver, executed completely autonomously on a planet millions of miles away from Earth,” Morales said. “I wanted to do that, and that was the moment I started looking for robotics programs to get a master's degree.”

Today, Morales is living his dream as a robotics software engineer at Astrobotic, a company advancing space exploration and technology development. His journey from watching a Mars landing to developing software for Moon missions was catalyzed by Northwestern’s Master of Science in Robotics (MSR) program.

At Astrobotic, Morales works on the perception team, developing critical software for landers and rovers.

“My work focuses on architecting high-performance, reliable software for our landers and rovers, enabling critical functions such as robotic motion control, camera operations, and LiDAR-based hazard detection,” Morales said. “I get to touch a lot of different aspects of critical software for our projects, including our flight projects that will launch later this year.”

Morales credits the MSR program for transforming him from a controls engineer into what he calls a “true roboticist.” The program’s project-based curriculum was a key factor in his decision to enroll.

“I knew from experience that I learn 10 times more from doing than from sitting around talking about theory in a classroom,” Morales said. “Don't get me wrong, theory is important, especially in robotics, but there are so many lessons you learn when you stumble into the practical considerations of just getting something to work and be reliable. You could just tell by looking at the students’ portfolios that the program was teeming with opportunities for practical learning, and that's what I wanted.”

The hands-on approach of the MSR program prepared Morales for the challenges he now faces at Astrobotic. He is currently leading a project to develop a novel multi-robot collaborative SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithm. This innovation will enable swarms of rovers to navigate autonomously on the lunar surface, even in environments with unreliable communications.

Matthew Elwin, co-director of the MSR program, played a crucial role in this part of Morales’ development.

“Elwin’s tutelage was invaluable,” Morales said. “His guidance through the SLAM class and individual projects honed my software development skills to a point where I was able to contribute heavily to multiple projects immediately upon arriving at Astrobotic. I've learned a lot since I graduated that I would not have been in the position to understand without the MSR program."

The MSR program not only enhanced Morales’ technical skills but also instilled in him the resilience needed to tackle complex robotics challenges.

“Robotics is hard,” he said. “Making reliable robotic systems is very difficult, and there's a certain amount of grit required for it. The answer may not be clear at first, but with time and evidence, you can hone in on the solution.”

Initial versions of robots rarely work as planned, whether that’s because of software bugs or more fundamental problems with conceptualization or algorithms. Being able to find the source of the problem and fix it is a necessary waypoint in a roboticists’ evolution, he said.

As Morales continues to push the boundaries of lunar robotics, he carries with him the lessons learned at Northwestern. He occasionally finds himself thinking back to that 2021 Mars rover landing and realizes how MSR helped transform his career path to where he is today.

"Right now is a captivating time to be working in lunar technology," he said. “Being part of humanity's return to the Moon as our next step in exploring our solar system is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”