- Special Sections - Dawgs Deals By STEVEN NALLEY Nine-year-old
Mason Smith caught one of NASAâ€™s top engineers off guard.
Mason, a fourth grader at Ward-Stewart Elementary School, said
he developed a science fair project comparing neodymium magnets
to ceramic magnets and found that ceramic magnets retained
magnetism better at higher temperatures, particularly 500
degrees Fahrenheit. He was surprised to find that NASAâ€™s
Curiosity rover used neodymium magnets, he said, so he asked
Adam â€śElvisâ€ť Steltzner, one of the NASA engineers who lead
the roverâ€™s mission to Mars, for an explanation during a
question and answer panel. Steltzner answered Mason personally
later â€” he said the roverâ€™s temperature doesnâ€™t get high
enough to require ceramic magnetsâ€™ higher heat tolerance â€”
but during the panel, the specificity of the question surprised
him, and he found it to be slightly outside his field of
specialization. â€śYou stumped me,â€ť Steltzner said. â€śWell
done.â€ť Steltzner and his fellow Curiosit