Did you know that a UAF alum is now helping NASA map routes for Mars Rover missions?

Fred Calef (UAF ‘10) is the lead mapper on NASA’s Perseverance rover mission. Being a mapmaker means he’s part of a team that uses data from the Perseverance rover to create a map of where it has been and, when requested by the rover’s science team, where it is going on its search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. 

Calef completed doctoral work for his Ph.D at UAF’s Geophysical Institute. At UAF, and while working under the guidance of planetary science professor Robert Herrick, Calef focused on the Martian surface. He completed his thesis work in 2010, landed his dream job at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has been working to map the rover’s past and future ever since. 

Learn more about Fred Calef and his important work in the latest issue of UAF’s Aurora Magazine here.