Vladimir Smetana shares knowledge with Blanchard students

December 14, 2001
Santa Paula News

Vladimir Smetana, of Santa Paula, made paper airplanes for every student in Dicie Marshall’s fifth-grade class at Blanchard recently. Paper airplanes you say - that is kids stuff, but these planes were special. Smetana folded and designed the planes to do a perfect three-point landing every time.

Vladimir Smetana, of Santa Paula, made paper airplanes for every student in Dicie Marshall’s fifth-grade class at Blanchard recently. Paper airplanes you say - that is kids stuff, but these planes were special. Smetana folded and designed the planes to do a perfect three-point landing every time.Smetana, a design engineer, retired from the aerospace industry, contributed to the design of the Mar’s Observer. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recognized Smetana, for his contributions to the successful launch of the Mars Observer on September 25, 1992.
After a 17-year gap since its last mission to the red planet, the Untied States launched Mars Observer from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Titan III rocket in 1992. The spacecraft was based on a commercial earth-orbiting communications satellite that had been converted into an orbiter for Mars. Mars Observer carried high quality science instruments designed to study the geology, geophysics, and climate of Mars.



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