51福利社

Not even the sky’s the limit for recent 51福利社 alumnus Dillon Dalton. The 23-year-old-graduate of the Computer Science Program is working on NASA鈥檚 Mars Sample Return, which has the ultimate goal of bringing rock and atmospheric samples from Mars back to Earth for the first time.聽

With a project that takes years to complete, there are many moving parts and several thousand NASA employees preparing for the mission. Dalton鈥檚 team, an elite group of seven, works specifically on the cameras that will guide the sample-retrieval lander. 鈥淭he cameras are pretty instrumental in navigating the spacecraft,鈥� Dalton 鈥�22 said. 鈥�They generate the data products which give you more information on different geographical features of Mars, like its topography and map products.鈥�

These cameras are just one part of a complex system designed to help guide the lander during its six-month sample collection sojourn on the surface. After which, a capsule containing the samples will be launched to the Earth Return Orbiter circling the planet, which will capture the samples and prepare them for their journey back to Earth. This entire project will take an estimated five years, beginning with the Sample Retrieval Lander鈥檚 two-year journey from Earth to Mars.聽

Dalton works at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where the preparation for this mission takes place. 鈥淲e have something called the Mars Yard,鈥� the Spokane native said, “which is essentially just dirt and rocks that look like Mars, where they do testing for the different spacecraft.鈥澛�

JPL is a world-renowned center of robotics where vehicles 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 said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of history there.鈥�

One piece of JPL鈥檚 history is a tradition based not at all on science, but on luck.

鈥淲e have lucky peanuts,鈥� Dalton explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tradition at JPL to have peanuts 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, colloquially known as 鈥淢artians,鈥� in preparation for the mission to the Red Planet.聽

Uprooting his life and moving to California has been a surreal experience for Dalton, who says he’s 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鈥攁nd to see the process of things getting assembled was a pretty incredible experience.鈥� Dalton now works amongst scientists whom he once watched in documentaries.聽

Earning a job at JPL was no small feat. Before he was offered a full-time position, Dalton applied for a part-time, scientific applications software engineering position while he was still at Eastern. After two months and nearly 10 interviews, Dalton began work in this role in October 2022.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think being from a smaller school was a hindrance,鈥� Dalton said. 鈥淚 had the skills and experience they were looking for.鈥� That experience began with聽 his undergraduate computer science work, where he gained valuable skills from both his courses and from internships like the one he scored with Schweitzer Engineering Labs in Spokane Valley.聽

Looking to the future, Dalton hopes to obtain his master鈥檚 degree, 鈥渆ither in data science or in robotics. Eventually I would like to work on something like instrument autonomy. Actually making systems that work on their own.鈥澛�

For now, however, Dalton鈥檚 vision, one that began as a childhood interest in space, is being realized.聽

聽鈥淚 had a place that I wanted to work and I was going to do what it took to get there.鈥�

Want to learn more about the Mars Sample Return? You can read about the mission and the Martians working on the project on .

Story written by Avery Knochel.