Meet NASA's Viral Mohawk Guy, Bobak Ferdowsi (VIDEO)

I caught up with Bobak to learn more about his rise to online stardom, his eccentric hairstyles, and, of course, what it takes to land on Mars.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
Activity lead Bobak Ferdowsi, who cuts his hair differently for each mission, works inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Brian van der Brug, Pool)
Activity lead Bobak Ferdowsi, who cuts his hair differently for each mission, works inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Brian van der Brug, Pool)

While NASA's team was accomplishing the incredible feat of landing its Curiosity rover on Mars, the legendary Mohawk Guy, spotted throughout NASA TV's livestream Sunday evening, rapidly became an Internet sensation, Twitter trend, beloved meme, and object of Tumblr affection.

But Mohawk Guy isn't just a fun haircut. He's Bobak Ferdowsi -- the Flight Director on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity mission. And once he went viral, it didn't take tweeps long to find his Twitter account, @tweetsoutloud -- which shot from 200 followers to over 20,000 overnight.

I caught up with Bobak to learn more about his rise to online stardom, his eccentric hairstyles, and, of course, what it takes to land on Mars. READ ABOUT THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE.

Follow Bobak Ferdowsi on Twitter @tweetsoutloud.
For more exclusive video coverage of the latest online trends, subscribe to our channel: YouTube.com/WhatsTrending!

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot