• Question: What do you find hardest about your job?

    Asked by Hannah Cap on 15 Jan 2020.
    • Photo: Yuri Yushtein

      Yuri Yushtein answered on 15 Jan 2020:

      Sometimes having to defend the points of view I do not share.

    • Photo: Divya M. Persaud

      Divya M. Persaud answered on 15 Jan 2020:

      Sometimes it can be hard to see the big picture. Whether that means “how does this really boring task fit into my big ideas, and what I want to do?” or “does this make me happy?” or “was doing something really challenging worth the risk?” These are hard questions no one else can answer. It can be hard to find perspective but I think a journey we all need to make, as scientists and engineers but also anyone, is figuring out what we believe in (right vs. wrong, what you love to do, what ideas you have are worth defending even if other people may not understand) and being sure we stick to what we believe in while still being open to learn.

    • Photo: Stephen Durrant

      Stephen Durrant answered on 17 Jan 2020:

      Solving problems. Because the system is quite complex it’s sometimes difficult to find a cause. And once you have found or suspect the cause you have to decide what to do and whether you need to fix it and furthermore whether you have the time to fix it, Because, if we miss the Launch in July then we have to wait 26 months until we can try again because of the Orbits of Earth and mars

    • Photo: Abbie Hutty

      Abbie Hutty answered on 20 Jan 2020:

      I think one of the biggest challenges for the team is communication, as there are so many people working on the project in so many countries, that all have to be kept up to date with any design changes, as small changes to one part of the rover or mission might have unexpected impacts on completely different parts. So whilst we are all busily finding solutions to the technical challenges facing us, we also have to remember to communicate what is going on to everyone else.

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