Woman Immigrates To U.S. With $300, Now She Leads NASA Mars Rover Team

Dec 11, 2021 by apost team

Diana Trujillo is a Colombian aerospace engineer who currently leads a team at NASA and JPL. Trujillo has had a long journey on the way to her impressive career, which includes performing many roles at NASA before becoming the leader of the team that engineered the robotic arm for the Mars Perseverance rover. She was also the first person to host a Spanish-speaking transmission of a NASA planetary landing when the Perseverance rover landed on Mars. 

Trujillo was born in 1983 and raised in Cali, Colombia. She attended a bilingual school and had an interest in science from a young age. Trujillo was also quick to question gender roles that limited options for women. Facing economic hardship at home in Colombia, she decided to move to the United States at age 17. The only money she had was $300 she had saved up. 

Trujillo worked as a housekeeper and attended Miami Dade Community College to learn English. She then transferred to the University of Florida and was the first Hispanic immigrant to be admitted to the NASA Academy program. She later attended the University of Maryland and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. By 2007, Trujillo was already working at NASA. 

One of Trujillo’s many roles at NASA was Dust Removal Tool Lead Systems Engineer. She and her team were responsible for ensuring that the Curiosity rover could take samples from Mars beneath the surface layer of dust. In 2021, Trujillo was flight director for the Mars Perseverance rover. Keep reading to learn more about this woman’s incredible journey.

On the day the Perseverance landed on Mars successfully, Trujillo was in shock. "I was very much on the mindset of 'What's happening?'" she said. "Are we safe? I think that watching the image was when I actually processed that we had actually landed.” This success was years in the making, but Trujillo’s story started decades before when she was still living in Colombia. 

After moving to America and working so hard to succeed, Trujillo has learned to take nothing for granted. She shared: 

"I saw everything coming my way as an opportunity. I didn't see it as, 'I can't believe I'm doing this job at night,' or 'I can't believe that I'm cleaning. I can't believe that I'm cleaning a bathroom right now.' It was just more like, 'I'm glad that I have a job and I can buy food and have a house to sleep.' And so, I think that all of those things make me, and even today, helps me see life differently. I see it more as every instant I need to be present because every instance matters."

As one of the few Latinas working in science and technology, Trujillo feels she is part of something larger than herself. She explained: 

"I know I'm not walking in there alone. 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 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.”

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Are you inspired by Trujillo’s story? Do you know any women interested in science and technology? Let us know, and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family.