![\"Nasa's](\"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/01\/1-sample-retrieval-lander-updated.jpg\")
Dalton\u2019s 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\u2019 notoriously thin atmosphere. \u201cThe cameras are pretty instrumental in navigating the spacecraft,\u201d Dalton says. \u201cThey also generate the data which give you more information on different geographical features of Mars, like its topography and map products.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Dalton\u2019s work takes place at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, California. \u201cWe have something called the Mars Yard,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich is essentially just dirt and rocks that look like Mars, where they do testing for the different spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n JPL is a world-renowned center of robotics, the facility where former NASA space greats such as Voyager, Curiosity and Perseverance were built. \u201cIf it is in some way robotic, JPL has had a hand in that,\u201d Dalton says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of history here.\u201d<\/p>\n One piece of JPL\u2019s history, however, is a tradition based not at all on science. \u201c<\/span>We have lucky peanuts,\u201d Dalton explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a tradition at JPL to have peanuts on hand when there\u2019s something crazy going on, like a landing or launch.\u201d Lucky peanuts, he adds, have already been passed around among his colleagues \u2014 colloquially known as \u201cMartians\u201d \u2014 in preparation for their lander\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n Uprooting his life and moving to California has been quite the experience for Dalton, who says he\u2019s had a \u201cfascination with space\u201d since childhood: \u201cTo walk into some of the clean rooms \u2014which is where they build the spacecraft \u2014 and to see the process of things getting assembled was an incredible experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Dalton says he still can\u2019t quite believe he\u2019s now working among scientists he once watched in documentaries. Getting on board wasn\u2019t easy: the application process lasted two months and involved nearly 10 interviews. Undaunted, Dalton made the grade and started work in October 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n He credits Eastern for helping to make it happen. \u201cI don\u2019t think being from a smaller school was a hindrance,\u201d Dalton says. \u201cI had the skills and experience they were looking for.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dillon Dalton, a recent computer science graduate, joins the space race. For recent Eastern graduate Dillon Dalton, not even the sky\u2019s 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…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":484,"featured_media":2552,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-2550","stories","type-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","stories_categories-alumni-profiles","stories_categories-research","stories_tags-fall-winter-2023-24"],"acf":{"subheading":"","featured_image_format":"cover","display_featured_image":false,"display_byline":false,"display_date_published":false,"featured_video":"","Links":false,"Resources":false,"page_hide_sidebar":false,"page_enable_page_nav":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/2550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/484"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/2550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2557,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/2550\/revisions\/2557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}