“With frying pan, cake and all,” Diana Trujillo, from Cali, celebrated the arrival of the robot Perseverance on Mars, on Thursday, at her house. A great event for humanity that she, one of the leaders of this mission, had the opportunity to broadcast in Spanish to the Spanish-speaking community live and direct, through the program “Juntos perseveramos”, through social networks and media JPL NASA.
The seamless landing makes her happy, as this aerospace engineer and her team have been tasked with integrating all the physical, electrical and computing parts of the robot so that it can do all its work on the red planet.
On his own initiative, “the deputy leader of the science of the robotic arm and arm and the leader of the travel operations review program,” a position he holds at NASA, wanted for the first time in the agency’s history to be broadcast on a space mission.
For this reason, for a long time, he insisted to the communications director of NASA JPL that it allows him to broadcast such an event. In October last year, they gave her the green light and Diana started writing the script for the show and looking for people and characters who could go to the show. He then teamed up with NASA’s Spanish-language communications professionals to produce, complete the recording and then broadcast the landing live.
About this experience as a presenter, the mission of perseverance and some curiosities, Diana Trujillo, former student of Colegio Cañaverales de Cali, spoke with El País:
Since when did the idea of transmitting a space mission come to you?
Seven years ago, when I arrived with Curiosity (another mission to Mars where Diana participated). I had lunch with a friend married to a Mexican woman and she said, “You should broadcast these missions in Spanish.” That stayed in my head until I succeeded (laughs).
Were you able to sleep peacefully last Wednesday?
(Laughs) Yes, you know I wasn’t nervous. You know when you give it your all and when you do things in half. I wasn’t nervous, because I worked with the people I work with for a long time, I knew them from the previous mission. I was there with them doing the exams, I did the exams, I myself evaluated what I did and I was convinced at that moment that I did everything we had to do and that’s why it came out so well.
Where did he transmit from?
From a NASA office, where I was alone. I was directly connected to the line of communication of the flight director I was listening to.
Two important events took place on Thursday: the transmission and the landing. What made you the most nervous?
Know? I’m not a person to get so nervous. For the show I prepared, I did everything I had to do to help myself as much as I could and I wasn’t nervous. Not even when I had two technical problems, through audio, in the program.
What did it mean to you to know that Perseverance had touched Mars? His joy overflowed …
It made me laugh because I transmitted everything I was translating and later, when I already received the photo sent by the robot, it was when I said “ok, God, we are here”. Because even if you hit the ground, there may be things that went wrong. Photography helps a lot to know the distance at which it is or at least to know if the perspective is correct. That the rockets flying over the robot did not land on him. So when the photo arrived, yes, I was already relaxed.
In this image, Rover Perseverance was about to reach the earth of Mars.
Twitter Perseverance of NASA’s Mars Rover
Has the planned schedule been followed? Is the mission going well?
Yes, it’s incredible how we get in, no problem, nothing to tell us we should worry about. I’m sure that when we start rebuilding, we will be able to find one or two small things, because perfectly in itself, nothing. But while we were receiving the information, we received it as we needed it and when we needed it. No, I still don’t think so. It’s just that this doesn’t even happen in movies … Everything is fine here: the robot touched the ground and then the photo arrived (laughs).
I’ll tell you one more thing, which I think is interesting to know. When we enter the surface of Mars after several steps, the robot begins to take pictures and compare the pictures it takes from the surface, with the pictures it has in its brain, because what we tell the robot is: “here is the map, based on photographs taken by orbiters around Mars. Now, as soon as you reach Mars, you start taking pictures and identifying, “this picture is the one here.” He begins to guide himself. So when he takes that picture, he calculates what picture he has, to know where it is; At that moment, when you take all those photos, the vehicle alone decides where to go. This is the new part of the technology we have on a mission, which is extremely complicated, because if you don’t know where you are, you don’t know where to travel and we’re talking about a rocket trying to manipulate itself.
Why is it so important to get to Mars for humanity?
There are four things my mind has at the moment: first, because the goal of the mission is to show if there has been microbial life on the surface of Mars in the past. This, indirectly, answers the question of whether we are alone in the universe. The second is what science does to answer this question.
The third is because we are advancing in technology so that we can bring people to Mars later. For example, making oxygen is one of the things we will do; helicopter flight to Mars for the first time is another matter; photos, entrance. We do things on both sides. This is one of the reasons why this mission fascinates me. Is it to answer we are alone in the universe? Let’s make science solid and, in addition, think about the human being when he comes and how to help him.
Should the robot stay on Mars for two years?
I’ll explain the full photo so you can see how it works. The first thing is to know that Rover stays there. The Curiosity mission had to find out if there was a way to sustain life. Then comes Perseverance. Curiosity said: the possibility of sustaining life is on Mars; now Perseverance says, let’s look. Let’s answer if there was life on Mars in the past and collect samples in pencil-sized tubes. Once this is done, the next mission will bring a small robot to collect these pencils and return them to Earth.
When the next mission comes and goes, we demonstrate another step: going back. We have shown that we can walk, carry heavy things, land automatically, produce oxygen and carry various things. Now we will show that we can return. At that moment, we practically say, at NASA: all the steps are there, now we can do the human.
Do you know how many people watched the show you did?
The last time I looked there were 1.7 million views on You Tube.
Did you see your name search increase by 2450% in the last hours in Colombia after the broadcast?
(Laughs) They told me something like that, but I didn’t know the number.
Did you know that your name was one of the most searched terms in Colombia on Thursday?
God (laughs). But the idea is not Diana Trujillo, the idea is the three reasons I wanted to broadcast. One, I wanted my grandmothers to see it, because I tell you, “look, crumb, be careful” and you look. Two, let your parents see it; these are the moments when I tell you: “do it, if she can, you can”. And the third is that children or young people who are trying to decide what to do with their lives, when they see the broadcast, will say, “this is the thing I want.” That’s what I wanted. We Colombians help each other a lot, we are a huge family. So the more people know that this is possible, the more people can become NASA scientists and engineers.
What advice do you give to girls who have seen you, know your job and dream of becoming like you?
I advise you a few things: look for what you like to do, not outside, but inside, in your heart. What things do you like? Why do you like me? Find. Identify them. And get closer to that dream. It is yours, it is what you want and it is in your heart, that will not change. Now, see what to do with it. Find people who have worked in that area: what they did, how they did it, what they didn’t do, and create your map based on this information to help you get started. Then you can change the course as you wish. It never occurred to me to make a presentation like the one I made, in which over a million people saw me (laughs). Then understand if you are asking for advice, because you need help or for validation. If it’s the latter, don’t do it. You know what you want. Do not expose yourself to a situation that will cause sadness when another says, “Don’t cry, you can’t do this.” It must be done, with curiosity and perseverance. You can do it.
Did your father see the show in Cali?
Yes, my father (Eduardo) saw her in Cali, she lives there. My grandmother and aunt. The only ones living in the United States are my mother (Patricia) and me. My grandmother, crying, happy, saw Signal Colombia and my aunt. My father sent me a message and I think he was crying; Although it was just audio, it was not very visible, but I said “yes, cry” (laughs).
What is your message to Colombians who are proud of your work and leadership in such an achievement …
Thank you very much for always being there. Every time I do something, you introduce yourself, support me, tell me to continue, give me encouragement. My message to all of you, with all the love in the universe, is thank you so much for continuing to support me, for continuing to say that I can move forward. I want to continue to bring you scientific messages and the progress we have made.
About the outrageous headline in the Italian press
Last weekend there was an agitation in the Colombian media and social networks for the title used by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica to report the work of Diana Trujillo as an aerospace engineer at NASA and her participation in the mission that led the robot Perseverance on Mars last Thursday. .
The note was entitled “Dalla Colombia dei narcos a Marte, la scienziata che muove la probe” (“From Columbia narcos to Mars, the scientist moving the probe”). Last Saturday night, when El País approached the Californian to find out if she wanted to comment on the unfortunate issue, she was still unaware of it. It was a surprise to her.
After learning what it was all about, with the delicacy and calm that characterizes it, he said: “Columbia must continue to be known for the talent that innovative people, artists, athletes and even space engineers produce every day. exemplifies the beautiful culture of our country “