Meet Emliy Seto, Class of 2013, who graduated from the Program in Public Health with a bachelor’s degree in public health sciences.
Emily is is a Planetary Protection and Contamination Control Engineer, and was part of the ATLO (Assembly Test Launch Operations) Team at Kennedy Space Center supporting the launch of the Mars2020 mission, which landed on February 18th, 2021.
An ATLO Team is assembled every 8-10 years for a major Mars mission and Emily was selected to be part of the crew! For the past few years, she has been working around the clock to ensure that the Mars2020 spacecraft is sterile and does not contaminate other planetary bodies. So, if life was to be found, we know it did not come from Earth! Mars2020 is just the beginning of the Mars Sample Return Campaign and Emily is already working on a strategy to bring back the samples safely to Earth.
To read more about her efforts here: “Biological safety in the context of backward planetary protection and Mars Sample Return: Conclusions from the Sterilization Working Group”, International Journal of Astrobiology. #mars2020
