TORONTO -- Landing on Mars was just the beginning for Perseverance and the team of NASA scientists who put the rover there.
Canadian-born Farah Alibay is part ofthe team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She says that waiting for the rover to land successfully on Mars was tough, and it wasn鈥檛 until that first picture of the red planet came through that she really realized they made it.
鈥淲hen I saw that first picture of Mars that came down, we鈥檝e had so many more beautiful pictures since, but I think that鈥檚 what made me realize 鈥榳ow, we鈥檙e there, we鈥檙e on another planet, we鈥檙e here, we鈥檝e got a job to do now,鈥欌�� Alibay told CTV鈥檚 Your Morningon Wednesday.
That job is looking for life on Mars, but it鈥檚 not as simple as driving Perseverance around remotely. Multiple challenges face the mission, not least of which is the distance between Earth and Mars.
鈥淎 single command to get from Earth to Mars takes about 12 minutes, and then 12 minutes to come back. So real-time commanding would be awful, it would take so long,鈥� she said.
Instead, they pre-plan and program each day for the rover.
鈥淓very minute, every second of the day is planned,鈥� said Alibay, who grew up in the Montreal area.
Her and her colleagues work during the Martian night to program the next day鈥檚 adventures, and upload the programs to the rover in the morning. By evening, Perseverance has executed the plans and sent reports back, and they do it all again.
Distance isn鈥檛 the only factor; time on the red planet also factors in.
鈥淎 Martian day is slightly longer than an Earth day,鈥� said Alibay.
About 40 minutes longer to be exact.
鈥淢y day shifts by 40 minutes every day,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I鈥檝e had permanent jet lag for the past two weeks.鈥�
Alibay's job isn't all about planning and programming the rover鈥檚 day, either. There鈥檚 a mission within the mission: it鈥檚 tucked beneath Perseverance and it鈥檚 called Ingenuity. It's a little helicopter that hopes to take the first flight on another planet.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to drop her on the surface of Mars, probably in the next month, and she鈥檚 going to attempt the first powered flight on another planet,鈥� said Alibay.
Helping this little helicopter take flight is Alibay鈥檚 main job on the mission, and one she鈥檚 excited about.
鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been that long since we鈥檝e flown on Earth and now we鈥檙e going to another planet and trying to fly, so that鈥檚 going to be amazing," she said.
