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Dillon Dalton, a recent computer science graduate, joins the space race.

For recent Eastern graduate Dillon Dalton, not even the sky鈥檚 the limit. Dalton, a 23-year-old computer science alumnus, is currently part of a NASA team working on the Mars Sample Return project. The goal? To bring rock and atmospheric samples from the Red Planet back to Earth.

Dalton鈥檚 team, an elite group of seven, works specifically on the cameras that will guide a Sample-Retrieval Lander as it makes its way through Mars鈥� notoriously thin atmosphere. 鈥淭he cameras are pretty instrumental in navigating the spacecraft,鈥� Dalton says. 鈥淭hey also generate the data which give you more information on different geographical features of Mars, like its topography and map products.鈥�

The cameras are just one part of a complex system designed to help guide the lander during its six-month collection sojourn. When completed, a capsule containing the surface stuff will be launched toward an Earth Return Orbiter circling the planet. The orbiter will then snag the samples and prepare them for their journey home. The mission will take an estimated five years. Launch is expected to happen as soon as 2028.

Dalton鈥檚 work takes place at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, California. 鈥淲e have something called the Mars Yard,鈥� he says, 鈥渨hich is essentially just dirt and rocks that look like Mars, where they do testing for the different spacecraft.鈥�

JPL is a world-renowned center of robotics, the facility where former NASA space greats such as Voyager, Curiosity and Perseverance were built. 鈥淚f it is in some way robotic, JPL has had a hand in that,鈥� Dalton says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of history here.鈥�

One piece of JPL鈥檚 history, however, is a tradition based not at all on science. 鈥�We have lucky peanuts,鈥� Dalton explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tradition at JPL to have peanuts on hand when there鈥檚 something crazy going on, like a landing or launch.鈥� Lucky peanuts, he adds, have already been passed around among his colleagues 鈥� colloquially known as 鈥淢artians鈥� 鈥� in preparation for their lander鈥檚 mission.

Uprooting his life and moving to California has been quite the experience for Dalton, who says he鈥檚 had a 鈥渇ascination with space鈥� since childhood: 鈥淭o walk into some of the clean rooms 鈥攚hich is where they build the spacecraft 鈥� and to see the process of things getting assembled was an incredible experience.鈥�

Dalton says he still can鈥檛 quite believe he鈥檚 now working among scientists he once watched in documentaries. Getting on board wasn鈥檛 easy: the application process lasted two months and involved nearly 10 interviews. Undaunted, Dalton made the grade and started work in October 2022.

He credits Eastern for helping to make it happen. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think being from a smaller school was a hindrance,鈥� Dalton says. 鈥淚 had the skills and experience they were looking for.鈥�