When the Perseverance rover beamed its first image back from Mars on February 18, 2021, the signal traveled roughly 200 million kilometers across the solar system. It didn’t just arrive — it was caught, amplified, and decoded by a network of antennas so sensitive they can detect a whisper from Saturn. Eric Fernandez is one of the engineers who makes sure those whispers don’t get lost.
Growing up on the central California coast, Fernandez spent his childhood watching rocket launches with his father. That routine — binoculars in hand, counting down with the crowds at Vandenberg Air Force Base — planted a seed. “I had posters of rockets on my wall,” Fernandez recalls. “But I honestly never thought I’d end up working with them. Both of my grandparents were farmworkers. Engineering wasn’t on my radar.” Fernandez is now a lead communications engineer at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, specializing in the Deep Space Network (DSN) — the global system of radio antennas that keeps humanity connected to its farthest-flung spacecraft.
From Childhood Curiosity to Engineering Reality
Fernandez’s path wasn’t linear. After high school, he enrolled in community college, unsure of a direction. A physics course — taught by a professor who wove in stories of the Voyager missions — cracked something open. “She described how Voyager 1 sends back signals with only 20 watts of power, like a refrigerator light bulb, and we can still hear it from 23 billion kilometers away. That blew my mind.” He transferred to California State University, Northridge, earning a degree in electrical engineering, and later joined JPL as an intern. Today, he works on the signal-processing algorithms that filter cosmic noise from spacecraft data.
His story mirrors a broader shift in NASA’s workforce. The agency’s latest diversity report shows that 18% of its science and engineering hires in 2023 came from underrepresented backgrounds, a 12% increase since 2018. But Fernandez says the real change is in mentorship. “Programs like NASA’s Community College Aerospace Scholars are pulling in students who never saw themselves here. I’m proof it works.”
The Science of Deep Space Signals
The DSN operates three antenna complexes — in California, Spain, and Australia — spaced roughly 120 degrees apart so that as Earth rotates, at least one station is always facing a spacecraft. The antennas, some as large as 70 meters in diameter, capture radio waves that have traveled for minutes or hours through interplanetary space. Fernandez’s job is to improve the “link margin” — the buffer between the signal’s strength and the noise floor. A few extra decibels can mean the difference between a clear image of Jupiter’s moon Europa and a garbled mess.
“People don’t realize how fragile these signals are,” Fernandez explains. “A solar flare, a passing satellite, even a thunderstorm over the Goldstone complex can knock out a transmission. We’re constantly tweaking parameters in real time.” His team recently tested a new error-correction protocol that boosted data rates from Mars orbiters by 40%. The results, published in IEEE Transactions on Space Communications, rely on algorithms originally developed for quantum error correction — a cross-pollination that Fernandez finds exhilarating. “We’re borrowing ideas from fields like ultracold hydrogen research, where scientists are trapping atoms with lasers to study fundamental physics. The same principles of noise suppression apply.”
Overcoming Barriers: A Family Legacy
Fernandez’s grandparents worked the strawberry fields of Salinas Valley. Neither finished elementary school. “They didn’t understand what I did at NASA,” he says with a laugh. “My grandmother thought I ‘fixed radios.'” But their work ethic shaped his own. “They showed me that you don’t need a title to be relentless.” That grit served him during the 2020 pandemic, when JPL’s on-site operations shut down. Fernandez and a colleague rebuilt a critical signal amplifier from their garages, using components sourced from electronics surplus websites. “It wasn’t elegant. But it worked.”
The cultural gap between farmwork and space engineering is slowly closing. Programs like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers provide networking and scholarships for students like those Fernandez mentors. “One of my interns is from a small town near Fresno. She’s now applying to grad school to study radio astronomy. That’s the ripple effect.”
Fernandez also points to broader societal currents. The pandemic-era shift in educational assessment — as noted in recent studies on grade inflation during COVID — meant that some underprivileged students received grades that helped them compete for competitive scholarships. “It’s messy. But for some kids, that extra boost got them into STEM programs they’d otherwise be shut out of.”
What It Means for the Future of Space Exploration
The DSN is aging. The oldest antennas were built in the 1960s. NASA is now planning a next-generation network, called the Deep Space Network 2.0, that will use optical wavelengths (lasers) alongside radio. Data rates could jump from megabits per second to gigabits — enough to stream 4K video from Mars. Fernandez is part of the design team. “Optical communications are a game changer. But they’re also harder. You need pinpoint pointing, and clouds block the link. We’re learning from terrestrial fiber-optics and free-space laser experiments.”
The implications extend beyond space. The same signal-processing techniques Fernandez develops are being adapted for quantum key distribution — a method of secure communication that could protect everything from banking to military data. “Space is the ultimate test bed. If you can reliably send a quantum state from Earth to orbit, you’ve solved problems that affect everyone.” Dr. Alisha Kapoor, a communication systems researcher at Stanford, agrees. “Engineers like Eric are building the backbone of the interplanetary internet. We’re not just talking to rovers anymore. We’re laying the groundwork for human missions to Mars.”
Fernandez keeps a photo on his desk: his father, at the beach, pointing toward a distant rocket plume. “He passed away three years ago. But every time I see a successful transmission — when the data comes in clean — I feel like we’re still watching those launches together.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does the Deep Space Network do?
The Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide array of giant radio antennas that NASA uses to communicate with its interplanetary spacecraft. It provides two-way communication: sending commands to spacecraft and receiving science data, telemetry, and images. The DSN also tracks spacecraft position and velocity for navigation. It’s managed by JPL and has stations in California (Goldstone), Spain (Madrid), and Australia (Canberra).
How does a signal from Mars reach Earth without getting lost?
Spacecraft transmit using high-gain antennas that focus radio waves into a narrow beam pointed at Earth. The DSN’s large dish antennas (up to 70 meters) capture that faint signal. Specialized receivers amplify it, and error-correction algorithms reconstruct any data lost to noise or interference. The whole process involves careful timing, frequency planning, and constant monitoring for solar interference or equipment glitches.
What educational background is needed to work at NASA as a signals engineer?
Most signals engineers at NASA hold at least a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, physics, or computer engineering, with many holding master’s or PhDs. Coursework in electromagnetics, digital signal processing, and communications theory is essential. Internships, like those offered through NASA’s Pathways program, provide hands-on experience. Community college transfer paths, as Eric Fernandez followed, are increasingly common and supported by NASA’s diversity initiatives.
