Braun has worked on Mars missions that landed successfully, as well as some that didn't.
"You basically work on something for four or five years, and then it takes four or five minutes in real time for that landing to occur, and it's very dramatic. You're gathering with all the people that you've been working with, who you've become typically pretty close to," he said. "You've done all you can for the spacecraft well before the landing. These systems are all autonomous."