"And they have to see a woman in there, too. The electricity for NASA's Mars 2020 rover is provided by a power system called a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. And Trujillo was part of the team that designed the robotic arm and other instruments of the US space agency explorer. Reception will be held on This annotated image of Jezero Crater depicts the routes for Perseverances first science campaign (yellow hash marks)as well as its second (light-yellow hash marks). Updated on: March 1, 2021 / 6:46 PM Soon enough, she was sneaking into some of the math department classes, where she didnt need to speak any English, with the numbers being a universal language. She paid her way through college by cleaning houses, learned English, and is now working to send her second spacecraft to the surface of Mars. Born and raised in Colombia, Diana immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, coming with little knowledge of English and almost no money to her name, but also with the goal . . She also created and hosted NASAs first-ever Spanish-language live broadcast called #JuntosPerseveramos for the Mars 2020 Mission. She Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign. At least one of the five young men killed by the Mexican military had alleged links to Cartel del Noreste, which operates in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo across from Texas.. A sixth . She was 31 when she starred in this movie. I was in complete survival mode. Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images, NASA's "Perseverance" team led by women and minority scientists, Mars rover reaches fertile terrain in search for clues about past life, NASA begins search for ancient life on Mars, Wreckage on Mars captured by NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, NASA confirms rover got its first-ever rock sample from Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover successfully landed, Juntos perseveramos: El aterrizaje del rover Perseverance en Marte. Sometimes, that thing slowing me down was my own self-doubt, and I had to make a conscious decision to shut down those voices in my head and trust my intuition. Something went wrong while submitting the form. The Dust Removal Tool took her six months to develop, and brushes the dust of the surface of Mars to allow scientists to investigate the surface below. "When I arrived in the United States, my goal was to help Mom. NASAs Perseverance Mars rover will abrade the rock at the center of this image, allowing scientists and engineers to assess whether it would hold up to the rovers more powerful sampling drill. "My parents got divorced when I turned 12. Diana Trujillo, la ingeniera latina que sigue haciendo historia en la NASA. While enrolled in English-as-a-second-language . . Now, she knows whenever she's working as one of the surface flight directors for Perseverance, she's representing more than just herself. "Are we safe? Diana Lee Trujillo was born on month day 1953, to Hugh Lanier and Wilma Lanier. Diana passed away on month day 1996, at age 42 at death place, Louisiana. The mission has concluded that the solar-powered lander has run out of energy after more than four years on the Red Planet. She finally earned her degree as an aerospace engineer at this school. Growing up in Columbia, she dreamed of working for NASA. This may not be a career accomplishment as much as a proud personal accomplishment, but Id probably have to say Im extremely grateful and proud that I have the opportunity to work for such an A+ team at NASA JPL. [7] She was one of the two participants to get a job offer from NASA. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Email Address: See available information. NASAs Perseverance Mars rover carries two commercial-grade microphones, including this one on its chassis. Part of the reason she wanted to get into the space field was to prove some family members wrong. View Diana Trujillo's professional profile on LinkedIn. . The story of Diana Trujillo, a NASA aerospace engineer and flight director for the Mars 2020 mission, is like that of many Latinos who come to the United States in search of their dreams. When she turned 17, Trujillo, who did not speak English, flew to Miami with just $300 in her pocket to start living life the way she wanted to live it, according to CBS News. Mars 2020 Mission. Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. Normally the ad cost for an Instagram ad post is based on the number of followers on the account. Once you get to a place where everyone in the room is an expert, you have this crazy feeling that nothing is impossible. The Mars landers seismometer has picked up vibrations from four separate impacts in the past two years. "I wanted my especially the males of my own family to recognize that women add value," she said, adding, "it came from wanting to prove to them that we matter.". NASAs Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this enhanced color image of Hogwallow Flats on June 6, 2022, the 461st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. She resides with her husband Nic and two dogs, Martin and Duke. $50 per post at $10/CPM. We're standing on the Mars Yard. Then as pictures and videos from Perseverance started to beam back, it became real. Diana Trujillo. Phone & Email (9) All Addresses (1) Family (7) Social (9) Court (14) And More; 2023 Visit Dallas. Phone Number: See available information. [1][6] Her mother was a medical student when she got pregnant and had to leave her studies to look after her daughter. Please enable JavaScript to show the Articles By Author listings. Time would tell her that it was all worth it. The landing only marked the beginning of Perseverance's stop on Mars, but playing a leadership role in the historic mission to find life there was decades in the making for Trujillo. The second choice I made was to pursue my educational studies relentlessly. It was just more like, 'I'm glad that I have a job and I can buy food and have a house to sleep.' We will use the arm to place those instruments or the drill that will collect the sample which are the ones that will be analyzing that terrain and helping us understand what is it composed of and understand if there was some traceability of life. Diana Trujillo is an aerospace engineer and Flight Director at NASAs Jet Propulsion laboratory. In her spare time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, watching The Bachelor, and reading psychological thrillers. Its not about me or what I do or say--its about tackling giant problems with an awesome team where every person brings something unique to the table. [15], Trujillo joined NASA in 2007, working at Goddard Space Flight Center on the Constellation program and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on human and robotic space missions. After briefly studying in Columbia, Trujillo immigrated to this country with only $300 in her pocket at the meek age of seventeen. She is also the Robotic Arm System lead for the Mars Perseverance mission. According to the Student Research Foundation, Hispanics hold only 8% of the STEM workforce of which Hispanic women only comprise 2%. Members ; About . The solar panel of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's solar panel as seen by Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. This gave me the ability to free up some of the mental space that was dedicated to survival to now engage more with my academic studies. Today, Dianais living that dream. Composed of 84 enhanced-color images, this mosaic features a rovers-eye view of the South Stah geologic unit of Mars Jezero Crater. Her first feature film was The Hidden Face (2011). 3060 S Monaco Pkwy, Board member of the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Her dreams of reaching space and wanting to understand the universe came as a young person in Cali, Colombia. Her children, the light of her life, were involved in all activities that they showed interest in and their mother was always a proud. She paid her way through college by cleaning houses, learned English, and is now working to send her second spacecraft to the surface of Mars. What I have enjoyed the most from my career is getting to work with a team that works on insane projects. She is also the Robotic Arm System lead for the Mars Perseverance mission. What we're trying to do is to rove around the surface of this unknown planet to try to find out if at some point there was life on the surface of Mars. "I get to elevate and amplify my culture and all the countries that speak Spanish by sending a message to everybody that we're here, we're present," she added. Trujillo believes the way to break the glass ceiling is to have more role models. Risen Christ Catholic Parish, Diana Trujillo Asst. [46], Media related to Diana Trujillo at Wikimedia Commons, Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 21:21, "Diana Trujillo, colombiana detrs de la misin Perseverance en Marte", "Una colombiana detrs de Perserverance, la misin espacial de la NASA que explora Marte para buscar el origen de la vida", "Juntos perseveramos: El aterrizaje del rover Perseverance en Marte", "From Columbia to Mars - Behind the spacecraft - Perseverance", "Diana Trujillo, Aerospace Engineer TechCrunch", "La colombiana Diana Trujillo dirige misin de la NASA", "Trujillo - MDC College Forum - Volume 19, Number 5", "Worth the Struggle: Diana Trujillo's Journey from Colombia to NASA", "Mars Science Lab Engineer Diana Trujillo ReadingWithYourKids.com", "Celebrating Latinas in STEM: Diana Trujillo, NASA - smithsonianlvm", "NASA: Curiosity Mars Rover brush at work", "Diana Trujillo, colombiana que dirige el camino de exploracin del Curiosity - EFE Futuro Amrica", "Diana Trujillo, una colombiana jefa de misiones del Curiosity en la NASA", "Diana Trujillo: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab engineer. When it comes to my career, my first important choice was to learn English as quickly and as comprehensively as possible. About. Sep 30, 2021. . Diana Trujillo is on Facebook. All Rights Reserved. Space seemed like the hardest industry I could possibly pursue, so I decided to get my aerospace engineering degree. To tell you the truth, the first objective was not to starve". Diana Trujillo is a Space Explorer and Aerospace Engineer who worked on Mars rovers to determine if ancient life ever existed on the surface of Mars. It's a classic coming of age story with a twist ending in space, Diana Trujillo's journey is very similar to several members of the Latin community, who moved to America at the prospects of a better life. Aerospace Engineer. The Fellowship was created in honor of space industry pioneer and accomplished pilot Brooke Owens. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38] She took part in a discussion about Hidden Figures at the University of Southern California alongside Octavia Spencer and Pharrell Williams. She told TechCrunch in 2018 that she grew up with the mindset that it was the woman's place to take care of the men in the family, and that her mother dropped out of med school when she met Trujillo's father and became pregnant with her. [20] In 2009 she was appointed telecom systems engineer for the Curiosity Rover. Diana married Bernard Vidal Trujillo. Here's your download: Oops! The robotic arm of NASAs Perseverance rover is visible in this image used by the AI4Mars project. That influenced her decision to be host of NASA's first-ever Spanish language broadcast for a planetary landing last Thursday. Current Address: NDAL Georgia St, Imperial Beach, CA. Diana started her career in Space Science at the University of Florida (UF) while having four different jobs. On February 18, 2021, the Perseverance rover landed on the red planet as a part of the Mars 2020 Mission. The agencys Perseverance rover will establish the first sample depot on Mars. Her story was turned into a children's science book titled "Mars Science Lab - Engineer" by Kari Cornell and Fatima Khan. The last one is Eduardo Pavlovsky, resistir Cholo (2018). [31], She has been involved in several initiatives to inspire young women from Latin America and African-American women to pursue a career in science and engineering. The accomplishment: she is the first Latina to lead such an important project. , Twitter user numeric ID: 1395474157. 2023 Association for Women in Science. She is an aerospace engineer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she also serves as the Robotic Arm System head. Outside NASA, Trujillo has been involved in the Brooke Owens Fellowship program as a leader, mentor, coach, and selection committee member. was 31 when she starred in this movie. I see it more as every instant I need to be present because every instance matters.". I was born and raised in Colombia. And so, I think that all of those things make me, and even today, helps me see life differently. "I'm walking in there and every single thing that I do, I'm representing my country, my culture, my heritage, my people, and I have to give my best every single time.". I see it more as every instant I need to be present because every instance matters.". Dianaisa passionate advocate for diversity in STEM, having pushed for more inclusion of the Latin@community in venues ranging from the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics to the educational programPlazaSsamo(Sesame Street).Dianaserves as an executiveofthe Brooke Owens Fellowship, an award-winning,highly competitive program that provides internship and mentorship to extraordinary undergraduate women seeking careers in aviation or space exploration; a memberof theTECHNOLOchicascampaign to raise awareness among young Latinas and their families about opportunities and careers in technology; amember of the boardof the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a science center open to the public and based in a predominantly Latin@ community; and a member of the board of the Childrens Center at Caltech, a center that is revolutionizing early child development education. In Colombia, people werent able to be engaged in these events as they were happening because they had to wait for the stories to come out and be translated into Spanish. And thats where, she said, she realized this was what she wanted to do for a living. "Understanding if we're alone in the universe is the ultimate question," she said. Complimentary membership for all qualified undergraduates/graduates of the institution. Perseverance Rover's View of 'South Stah', Testing Perseverance's Regolith Bit Here on Earth, Zooming in on Perseverance Rover's 'Wildcat Ridge' Abrasion Patch, Perseverance Rover's Mastcam-Z Captures Ingenuity's Third Flight, This Gold Box Searches for Buried Treasure, Closeup of 'Send Your Name to Mars' Chips on Perseverance Rover, Mars Helicopter's Solar Array as Seen by Perseverance's Mastcam-Z, Perseverance's Mastcam-Z Video of Ingenuity Hovering, Mars Perseverance Rover: Your Most "Liked" Images 2021, NASA Mars Team Honors December 2022 You've Got Perseverance Awardees, Perseverance Team Selects a New Rock to Abrade, Perseverance's Mastcam-Z Views 'Hogwallow Flats', NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot, NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface, NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science, NASA's Perseverance Rover to Begin Building Martian Sample Depot, NASA and ESA Agree on Next Steps to Return Mars Samples to Earth, NASA's InSight 'Hears' Its First Meteoroid Impacts on Mars. My name is Diana Trujillo and I work with robotic arms to collect samples on Mars. Join Facebook to connect with Diana Trujillo and others you may know. My second best career accomplishment was getting the opportunity to work as Flight Director for helicopter deployment. "Understanding if we're alone in the universe is the . Your entry has exceeded the maximum character limit. Like, you know how you watch a movie and you feel the excitement that a character is going through? Board member of the Childrens Center at Caltech. I think that watching the image was when I actually processed that we had actually landed," she added. They have two children. Just being in the room for that experience was really powerful. was 33 Mars 2020 Mission seeks signs of ancient life on the planet through the collections of rock and soil samples. She was featured on CBS' 2018 celebration of Women's History Month. I was confident that education would open a door one way or another, and I never second guessed my decision to go to school. First-time dog owner", "Meet Diana Trujillo: Colombian Behind NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Functions", "National Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Diana Trujillo #HispanicHeritageMonth", "Diana Trujillo, la calea que supervisa en la NASA las misiones del robot que enva informacin desde Marte", "Diana Trujillo, lder de misin del Mars Curiosity, NASA", "Who is Diana Trujillo and why is her work linked to the success of Perseverance? "I hope that within the one year of surface operations on Mars, we can answer that question soon.". In an interview with El Pas de Cali, her home citys biggest newspaper, Diana says that you dont need to be a genius or have tons of postgraduate degrees to work at NASA. This is one of NASAs most ambitious projects to date. Receive our weekly newsletter packed with insights, tools and more. NASAs Ingenuity Mars Helicopter takes off and lands in this video captured on April 25, 2021, by Mastcam-Z, an imager aboard NASAs Perseverance Mars rover. When she immigrated to the United States, she spoke little to no English and had to work full . What have been your top career accomplishments so far? Throughout her career, a similar theme followed: She'd be one of the few Latinas working in science. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Diana Trujillo discover inside connections to recommended . Fortunately, my closest family members encouraged me to pursue my education and put my own professional aspirations first, inspiring me to attempt the . Trujillo is now part of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and worked on the team that created the robotic arm that will collect rock samples on Mars. Denver, The last one is Eduardo Pavlovsky, resistir Cholo (2018). ", "NASA to offer Mars rover landing coverage in Spanish for the first time", "Diana Trujillo, Aerospace Engineer | AOL.com", "Hecho en Amrica: Diana Trujillo, la colombiana que est detrs de las exploraciones en Marte", "Hidden Figures screening inspires talk about math and representation - USC News", "USC Partners with #GirlsBuildLA for 'Hidden Figures' Screening to Celebrate Girls in STEM", "L.A.'s teenage girls find representation at 'Hidden Figures' screening - USC Rossier School of Education", "Brooke Owens Fellowships will boost women in aerospace (and we're helping)", "BROOKE OWENS FELLOWSHIP WELCOMES NEW LEADERS TO EXECUTIVE TEAM", "How the space sector is responding to the killing of George Floyd", "De Cali a Marte: el camino que recorri Diana Trujillo para liderar una misin espacial", "Mars Perseverance Team Members to Be Recognized at Hispanic Heritage Awards", "Diana Trujillo recibi la cruz de Boyac", "Diana Trujillo, lder de misin a Marte, ser condecorada en Congreso", "Diana Trujillo Pomerantz - Enciclopedia | Banrepcultural", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diana_Trujillo&oldid=1138827279, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 21:21. The part I enjoy the least is the long stretches between project milestones where youre tired and mentally exhausted from dealing with the same problem for weeks on end. She hascontributed to several space missions. View the profiles of people named Diana Trujillo. This video from NASAs Perseverance rover shows increasingly close views of an abraded rock at Wildcat Ridge in Mars Jezero Crater, an area scientists consider one of the best places to search f NASAs Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera system to create this panorama of its first drill site. But she was 17 when she decided to immigrate to the United States. Arriving with only $300 in her pocket and speaking no English, she tells CNN that the plan was simple. Trujillo applied to the NASA Academy her senior year of college, and was the first immigrant Hispanic woman to join the program, according to TechCrunch. We'd boil an egg and we'd cut it in half, and that was our lunch that day," she said. Mars 2020 Mission seeks signs of ancient . Diana Trujillo is an aerospace engineer and Flight Director at NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory. Once you write it, then back up and figure out what you need to do to get there. Diana K Trujillo, Age 68. aka Diana K Stroh. After completing my degree, I went on to work for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on Curiosity and Perseverance, and I am currently the Flight Director and Robotic Arm System domain lead for the Mars Perseverance mission. To pursue my educational dreams, I moved to the United States at 17 years old. To date, the broadcast has over 2.6 million views on YouTube, which exceeded all of our expectations.. Join Facebook to connect with Diana Trujillo and others you may know. [6] She was responsible for ensuring Curiosity's sampling fulfilled its science objectives dust-free whilst maintaining operational safety. This map of the Red Planet shows Jezero Crater, where NASA's Mars 2020 rover is scheduled to land in February 2021. "I want to be out there looking back in, showing my family that women have value, that women matter.". This image of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover shows a plate fastened to the rover aft crossbeam (lower right) with three fingernail-sized chips stenciled with nearly 11 million names of Earthlings. [14] She was a member of Sigma Gamma Tau. "I saw everything coming my way as an opportunity," she told CBS News. She is an advocate for diversity in STEM providing weekly updates on the Perseverance mission in both English and Spanish. Christopher Brito is a social media manager and trending content writer for CBS News. While studying at the university, she decided to apply for the NASA Academy, being the first Hispanic immigrant woman admitted to the program. Last year, NASA made history after Perseverance, its rover robot, successfully landed on the surface of the red planet, a . Let others know about your loved one's death. She'd been keeping odd hours for weeks -- going to bed at 2 p.m., waking up a few hours later, heading into work. Past Addresses: Vallejo CA, Vallejo CA +1 more. As a child growing up in Colombia it was difficult and dangerous as the country was poor and violent.. Diana Trujillo would lie beneath the stars, look to the sky and think, "Something has to be out there that's better than this." Ambition. Its a lot of work, but it will pay off in the end. She resides with her husband Nic and two dogs, Martin and Duke. Sometimes I feel like my job is a movie that Im watching, and I have to remind myself that this is real, and Im just going to work. It was incredibly difficult to learn a new language in a completely foreign place while also trying to figure out who I was supposed to be, but I learned from that experience that I was capable of learning more than I ever thought possible. There was a lot of violence going on in my country, so for me, looking up at the sky and looking at the stars was my safe place.". As a child growing up in Cali, Colombia, Diana Trujillo would lie beneath the stars, look to the sky and think, "Something has to be out there that's better than this.". / CBS News. Since 2011, she has appeared in 6 feature films. They were missing out on feeling like they not only witnessed history, but were a part of it. Retrieved from https://peopleenespanol.com/noticias/diana-trujillo-la-ingeniera-latina-sigue-haciendo-historia-en-nasa/, http://www.brookeowensfellowship.org/diana-trujillo, https://www.elpais.com.co/cali/de-a-marte-el-camino-que-recorrio-diana-trujillo-para-liderar-una-mision-espacial.html, https://peopleenespanol.com/noticias/diana-trujillo-la-ingeniera-latina-sigue-haciendo-historia-en-nasa/, Dating a Colombian Women: Everything you need to know. So, what did Diana do did to make her dream come true? Now, she's a flight director for the Mars Perseverance rover. NASA aerospace engineer Diana Trujillo came to the U.S. with only $300 and worked housekeeping jobs to pay for school. Now, she's leaving her mark on Mars. She paid her way through college by cleaning houses, learned English, and is now working to send her second spacecraft to the surface of Mars. [21] She has also been Flight Ground Systems Engineer and Vehicle System Testbed Mars Surface Lead. March 21, 2019 at Sprinkled, dipped, glazed, double glazed and as light as air, there's a reason it's hard to say no to a good doughnut. [3][4] On February 18, 2021, Trujillo hosted the first ever Spanish-language NASA transmission of a planetary landing, for the Perseverance rover landing on Mars. Diana hosts a weekly video series called Martes de Marte via her Twitter account in English and Spanish. Jun 2, 2020. The MMRTG will be inserted into the aft end of the r Students took part in a NASA "You've Got Perseverance" event to honor them for overcoming academic challenges. Shealsostarted and hostedMartes deMartevideo series, providingSpanish-language updates of Mars missions. '", Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty, Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP/Shutterstock, Touch Down! In June 2020, Trujillo was appointed to the Brooke Owens Fellowship's Executive Board[44][45] She was awarded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Bruce Murray Award for Excellence in Education and Public Engagement. Olinger Hampden Mortuary, Cremation & Cemetery, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. It gave me the tenacity that I needed to say I'm not going to give up on my dream," she told TechCrunch. Born and raised in Colombia, Trujillo immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17 to pursue her dream of working for NASA. Embed this resource by pasting the following code into your website: Managed by the Mars Exploration Program and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASAs Science Mission Directorate. Space, to me, was one of these hardest challenges, and my fascination with space began. years old, 8986 For me, the question was How do we make sure the whole community is engaged and understanding the human presence in space? Juntos Perseveramos, for me, was what was missing. A clear goal and what she calls the strength of Colombian women helped her to do it all with a few hours of sleep. All Rights Reserved. Learn more about NASA's Perseverance rover: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 TRANSCRIPT At the age of seventeen, just one day after graduating from high school in Colombia, Trujillo immigrated to the United States to pursue her dream of one day working for NASA. [7] During her work at the Academy, she met NASA robots expert Brian Roberts, who convinced her to move to Maryland with the aim of increasing her chances in the Aerospace industry. Each will receive: On-line access to the award-winning AWIS Magazine (published quarterly), Receipt of the Washington Wire newsletter which provides career advice and funding opportunities, Ability to participate in AWIS webinars (both live and on-demand) focused on career and leadership development, Network of AWIS members and the ability to make valuable connections at both the local and national levels. [28], Trujillo worked as flight director[29] on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover robotic arm[30] and in February 2021, she hosted NASA's first Spanish-language planetary landing show. People Projects . From Cali to Mars | Career | Professional accomplishments | Beyond NASA. Right after her graduation at the Cygnus International Space Station. Genealogy profile for Diana Trujillo. Send a note, share a story or upload a photo. Past Addresses: See available information. 2022 Association for Women in Science. When Trujillo reached the dean, she saw a magazine that had images of female astronauts, a space shuttle and Earth and that was when she picked aerospace engineering as her major. When NASA's Perseverance rover successfully landedon Mars last week, aerospace engineer Diana Trujillo, who is a flight director on the mission, said in an interview with CBS News that it took her some time to process that it had arrived on the red planet. Shut everything else down, the noise around you, the busyness of the day and, I dont know, get a pizza and lock yourself in a room with a white board and a marker and write it all down. Diana Lynn Trujillo was born on October 13, 1963 and passed away on March 12, 2019 and is under the care of Olinger Hampden Mortuary & Cemetery. Is there anything else you would like to share? that it was the woman's place to take care of the men in the family, . Comfort the family with flowers or a sympathy gift. View Diana Trujillo's genealogy family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. On the flip side of working on such intense projects is the reality that sometimes your hardware breaks, you miss lunch, and theres a lot of stress involved in accomplishing the mission. Fortunately, my closest family members encouraged me to pursue my education and put my own professional aspirations first, inspiring me to attempt the hardest intellectual challenges I could possibly even think of, despite these stereotypes of what I should be. Diana Trujillois a Space Explorer and Aerospace Engineer who worked on Mars rovers todetermine if ancient life everexistedon the surface of Mars. Once in, she visited the University of Maryland, where she assisted a professor in researching how robotic arms work in space. September 17, 2021. (February 21, 2021). [24] In 2014, Trujillo was promoted to Mission Lead. Lady Diana Trujillo Pomerantz (born 1983) is a Colombian aerospace engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.She currently leads the engineering team at JPL responsible for the robotic arm of the Perseverance rover.