Interview with Kamal Oudrhiri, head of the planetary studies department at NASA
In this exclusive interview, Moroccan scientist Kamal Oudrhri talks to Maroc Hebdo about NASA's recent mission to Mars.
The InSight probe succeeded in landing on Mars on November 26, 2018 after more than six months of travel through space. Big news in space exploration, isn't it?
Absoutely. Above all, you have to measure the difficulty of the thing. Value today, only one in three missions to land on Mars is successful. This is a very low rate. So we were a bit on edge, even if, from the experience we had gained, we were confident at the same time. As you may know, NASA has successfully landed space probes on Mars seven times, so InSight is the eighth. By comparison, other space agencies have never managed to land even a single probe. Also, on a personal level, Insight is my fourth mission after Spirit and Opportunity, in 2004, and Curiosity, in 2012.
Do you still follow what is happening in Morocco?
Yes, and I'm even going to tell you a secret: every year, I spend my holidays in Morocco. Morocco is in my blood, it's my country. Even though I haven't lived there for several years, I still love it with the same strength.
Why is landing a probe on Mars so difficult?
What you should first know is that our probes use parachutes to land. However, on Mars, the opening of these parachutes can be hampered by changes in the atmosphere, which often tends to become dense due to the grains of sand that will be transported from the ground by the winds. The problem is that the triggering of these winds is difficult to predict, in that they are sudden, and therefore all our calculations can go wrong, as a result of which the mission itself can go wrong. We must therefore be as precise as possible, and moreover our calculations are made to the nearest hundredth of a second. I will also add that when a probe approaches Mars, it averages a speed of 20,000 km/h, and it must go from this speed to zero in about 7 minutes, at the risk of crashing. Here again, calculations have to be made so that the parachutes are triggered at the right time.
There are several young Moroccans who, like you, distinguish themselves in the scientific field within prestigious institutions. What do you think?
It definitely warms the heart. Moroccan youth is full of potential. Why not, tomorrow, imagine other Moroccans working at NASA and having a better career than me? Anyway, that's my dearest wish. But, to do this, it takes a lot of work and self-sacrifice. This is my main message to our youth: that they do not give up and that they do not believe that everything is acquired in a snap of the fingers. To be among the best, you have to do like the best, that is to say give the best of yourself.
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