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Very few people can say that they work on Mars.
But Farah Alibay has made it a pioneering career.
"We are going on other planets, other moons, other galaxies – we are the explorers of modern times discovering new worlds," said Alibay CEO's magazine from California's NASA base. "You have learned the story of those people who have discovered an entire planet and, of course, we know a lot about the planets, but there is still much to discover."
Alibay, one of the engineers at the head of the InSight mission (the first robotic lander dedicated to the study of the interior of Mars since its inception there are 4.5 billion of them). years), never know what every Martian day will bring.
"We are going on other planets, other moons, other galaxies – we are modern day explorers discovering new worlds", – Farah Alibay
Although the lander is not looking for life, he is exploring the core of Mars to help NASA better know the Earth, making Alibay one of the first in the world to see new images of the red planet.
"We discover the unknown, we do not know what we will find, sometimes even without knowing what we are looking for," said Alibay. "The question we are asking ourselves is why Mars has evolved differently from Earth – which makes it so special."
A few hours before CEO's magazine InSight has detected the first earthquake on Mars, called marsquake.
"InSight landed on Mars in November and we recorded the first marsquake," says Alibay. "It was pretty small and unexpected. But it's good to say that we detected a seismic movement on another planet.
"Sixty years ago, we did not even know what Mars looked like."
The successful career of the Canadian born is perhaps rich in historical and triumphant breakthroughs, but it is not without its share of challenges to be met.
While NASA has grown by leaps and bounds in diversity since the first six women joined the organization in 1978, Alibay said he has already faced issues of gender inequality.
"When I was in high school, a career counselor told me I should not do engineering because it was a male dominated world and I was going to fight," she says. "My main advice is to let no one say no to you.
"I remember a few lectures in graduate school where people sent me away because they did not take me seriously or did not even realize I was an engineer because I'm a woman.
"However, I have a stronger personality and I have learned not to drop this slide. I've never had a big setback because of that, but there have been cases where I have been treated differently because of my gender or the color of my skin – but this is happening less and less. less. "
As Alibay's role in the InSight mission comes to an end, the aerospace engineer will focus on the next pioneering Red Rock expedition alongside other talented women scientists leaders from March 2020.
"Looking back, in the life of my grandparents, they saw the first astronaut and the first satellite launch to go into space," she says. "We are now launching very small things that we manufacture from commercially available components. They go to Mars and send back images of Mars to Earth – it's almost unbelievable. "
#InSightMarslander # Mars2020 #NASA #femaleengineers
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