Mars landing: Montreal-born rocket scientist defies gravity in jump for joy

"Space is for everyone."

Montreal Gazette
Published Feb 19, 2021  •  1 minute read
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A simulation of the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover on the planet Mars, where it will look for signs of past microbial life, cache rock and soil samples, and prepare for future human exploration, is livestreamed on the Piccadilly Lights screen in central London Feb. 18, 2021.
A simulation of the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover on the planet Mars, where it will look for signs of past microbial life, cache rock and soil samples, and prepare for future human exploration, is livestreamed on the Piccadilly Lights screen in central London Feb. 18, 2021. Photo by TOLGA AKMEN /AFP via Getty Images

When NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover touched down, one former Quebecer lifted off.

Farah Alibay, a Montreal-born systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, has “a bug for robotic planetary exploration.” Don’t we all.

She’s been working on the Perserverance mission, and told the Montreal Gazette in August that “space is for everyone.”

When the rover landed successfully on Thursday, she not only jumped for joy, she recorded the moment and said, “I still can’t believe that we’re safely on Mars.”

“Percy” is on the hunt for signs of past microbial life on the Red Planet.

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