NASA’s Mohawk Guy Ushers In A New Wave Of Science Heartthrobs

You probably know NASA mohawk guy by appearance — after all, his hairstyle did stand out for those of us who stayed up late to tune in and watch Curiosity stick the landing to get all up in Mars’ terrain and start taking pics.

But NASA’s mohawk guy became nearly an instant meme, as we reported earlier, and move over Magic Mike — the internet’s girl geeks have also declared Mr. Mohawk hottie du jour. We didn’t see six-pack abs or a stripper’s physique, but there was something undeniably… well, hot about a dude who can commandeer a rover to land on a far away planet and look like a rockstar while doing it.

Alas, his name isn’t NASA mohawk guy, although he will probably be known as such from here on out. His real name is Bobak Ferdowsi, and his title is the very sexy-sounding “flight director.” Ferdowsi is 32, and since his iconic hair became a symbol of the successful Mars rover landing, he’s been chatting it up on Twitter with legions of space and science-loving fans.

Ferdowski’s Twitter account, @tweetsoutloud, has attracted a strong base of NASA enthusiasts and geek-loving girls, one of whom tweeted to NASA’s mohawk guy:

.@tweetsoutloud I know you’ve been busy, but will you marry me? land something on mars if the answer is yes.

— amaeryllis (@amaeryllis) August 6, 2012

Ferdowski has said that all the attention for being NASA mohawk guy would be especially cool if it got more kids interested in science — he told the Los Angeles Times:

“That would be like a dream come true for me. I would love to be working here 10 years from now and some guy who was in high school or middle school at the time sees me and is like, ‘I remember you, you’re one of the reasons I got into NASA.’ Even if one kid is like that, I’d probably get a little emotional.”

Is NASA mohawk guy Bobak Ferdowski the smartest sex symbol we’ve seen all year?