Farah Alibay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Farah Alibay
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Systems engineer Farah Alibay
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| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Organization | Engineering career |
| Discipline | Systems Engineering |
| Employer(s) | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Projects | InSight Mars Cube One Mars 2020 |
Farah Alibay is a super cool Canadian engineer who works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has helped with some amazing space missions, like InSight, Mars Cube One, and Mars 2020.
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Early Life and Education
Farah Alibay was born in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Her parents came from Madagascar. She grew up in a town called Saint-Charles-Borromée in Quebec. Later, her family moved to Manchester, England for her high school years. Her first language is French.
When Farah was in middle school, she was really inspired by Julie Payette, a Canadian astronaut who went to space. Since Julie Payette was also from Quebec, Farah saw her as a great role model.
University Studies
Farah went to the University of Cambridge in England. In 2010, she earned two degrees there: a bachelor's and a master's in aerospace and aerothermal engineering. This means she studied how to design and build things that fly, especially in space!
She then continued her studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. In 2014, she got her PhD in aeronautics and astronautics engineering. For her PhD, she researched how to use many different vehicles, like robots, to explore planets in our solar system.
In 2013, while at MIT, Farah won an award for being an excellent teaching assistant. She helped students learn how to use special software for designing space projects.
Career at NASA
After finishing her master's degree, Farah got to be an intern at the NASA Academy at the Goddard Space Flight Center. This internship showed her all the different things NASA does and all the cool places they work. It was there that she discovered her passion for exploring planets using robots. She also interned at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory while she was working on her PhD.
Joining the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
In 2014, after she graduated, Farah Alibay was hired full-time as a systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A systems engineer makes sure all the different parts of a big project work together perfectly.
Her first project was the Mars Cube One CubeSats mission. These were small satellites that traveled with the InSight mission to Mars.
In 2016, she became a Payload Systems Engineer for the InSight mission. InSight was a robot spacecraft designed to study the inside of the planet Mars. It launched into space on May 5, 2018. Before the launch, Farah was in charge of making sure all the scientific tools on the spacecraft were put together correctly and tested.
While the InSight spacecraft was traveling to Mars, Farah helped the teams get ready for its landing. She also tested the equipment that would detect things on Mars. To celebrate InSight landing safely on Mars on November 26, 2018, Farah even dyed her hair red to match the color of Mars and the InSight mission logo!
Working on Mars 2020
In 2019, Farah joined the Mars 2020 mission, working with the team that controls the rover's movement. Her job was to make sure the rover, named Perseverance, didn't get lost on Mars. After Perseverance landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, Farah was a key leader. She helped connect the work of the Perseverance rover with the Ingenuity helicopter.
On April 19, 2021, Farah was part of the amazing Jet Propulsion Laboratory team that successfully flew Ingenuity. This was a huge moment because Ingenuity was the first aircraft ever to fly in a controlled way on another planet!
Farah also works to make science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields more welcoming for everyone. She wants to help more people get involved and succeed in these areas.
Personal Life
Farah believes that having good mentors is very important, especially when you are just starting out. Because she had positive experiences with her own mentors, she now mentors young women who are interns. She remembers a time when a guidance counselor tried to tell her not to go into engineering because it was mostly men. But she didn't listen!
Her favorite moon in our solar system is Saturn's moon, Enceladus. When she's not working on space missions, Farah loves being outdoors. She enjoys hiking, camping, biking, and skiing. She also likes weight-lifting. Farah is also a "Big Sister" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program, where she helps mentor young people.
See also
In Spanish: Farah Alibay para niños
