Curiosity and passion seem to have no limits for Farah Alibay: after having explored Mars, the Quebec engineer will probe the origins of the universe, a “new challenge” that excites her to the highest degree.
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While in Quebec, the aerospace scientist reveals that she was ready for a new adventure after helping to pilot the rover Perseverancewhich has been exploring Mars for just over a year, delivering exceptional sights and sounds from the Red Planet.
Courtesy picture
During the Les sciences et les femmes conference presented at the Musée de la Civilization on Thursday evening, aerospace engineer Farah Alibay spoke about the beauties on the planet Mars, and astrophysicist Nathalie Ouellette presented her vision of the cosmos. In the photo, we see them with Olga Farman, master of ceremonies, lawyer and managing partner of the Quebec office of Norton Rose Fulbright.
“I really specialize in mission development. building [de celles-ci]testing, that’s what I like to do, and often, I continue to operate for three to six months during commissioning,” she explained in an interview yesterday at the Musée de la civilisation, where she participated in the event science and women of INO’s Quantino high-tech incubator.
Never the routine
“We agree that Mars is never routine. But now that it’s a bit more routine, it’s a different kind of specialization. For me, it was time to go back to basics towards what I love to do, I wanted a new challenge”, she says.
Within the new NASA project that she joined, SPHEREx, she is not likely to be bored.
It aims to put a telescope into orbit around the Earth in 2025 to survey the sky in near-infrared light.
“We are going to study the beginnings of the universe and its expansion, the formation of galaxies, where the water in galaxies comes from”, specifies the Quebecer with twinkling eyes.
“It’s always curiosity that drives me. It is sure that it is a mission which is a little smaller. The team is smaller too, but that means that I have a bigger role. At the technical level, I have a lot more responsibilities, ”underlines the one who has been appointed chief engineer of flight systems.
Meet the students
Farah Alibay will meet 450 primary school children today in two schools in Limoilou, in person.
“For me, it’s important to show a different model in science. […] When I was young, we didn’t see many racialized women, I didn’t have a lot of role model. […] My message is to follow your dreams, to dream big,” she says.