INTERVIEW with JANE MacARTHUR from UNITED KINGDOM

(c) OeWF (Katja Zanella-Kux)

Team & Task(s)

Jane MacArthur from UK is part of the Remote Science Support (RSS) Team during the MARS2013 Mission and principal investigator (PI) for the MEDIAN experiment. Her team will be receiving data returned from the field, and – co-ordinating with the various experiment PIs and their teams – pass on this data and perform analysis. For some of the in-house OeWF experiments, in particular the geological investigations, the RSS team will be building up detailed maps of the area from the data obtained.

Space & MARS2013

How did you first get in touch with the topic of space / astronomy / analog research?

I followed what I could as a teenager and was fascinated by the night sky early on, but it was attending the final space shuttle launch in July 2011 that made me decide to return to education and apply to UCL (University College London). This resulted in me starting an MSc in Planetary Science in September 2012.

When did you first hear about the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF)

I met Jan Klauck, from the Berlin Office of OeWF at the ISS Symposium in Berlin in May 2012, after applying to the Symposium seeing a tweet about it from a friend.

How did you learn about the “MARS2013” mission?

Jan told me of the announcement of opportunity for experiments and that they were keen to get students involved. Knowing that I was starting an MSc in September, I talked with another space friend, Nick Howes, who had this great idea for a Mars experiment, and thus MEDIAN was born.

Why did you choose to participate?

It was a fantastic opportunity to design, build and test an experiment under live mission conditions, while also gaining further knowledge of geological skills for the future with the RSS team.

What was your first impression when you got involved with the OeWF team?

Great diverse international mix of enthusiastic and committed people.

What is your personal goal in this mission?

Obtain useful data for my experiment, learn as much as I can from all the other experiments, mapping and geological projects, experience the procedures and team work needed to carry out such a large scale of operations while making a lot of new friends with similar interests.

Work, Life & Family

What I do for a living:

I am a Chartered Accountant, freelance violinist and run my own company with over 140 clients, while studying a part time MSc in Planetary Science at University College London. I also have qualifications as a gym instructor, CrossFit trainer and sports massage therapist.

A typical day in my life looks like this:

There is no such thing as a typical day in my life. A large proportion is spent in front of the computer, unless I’m due at college or client meetings. I’m trying to get back to the gym 3 times a week, play concerts, see friends, etc.

This is how I spend my spare time:

I don’t have spare time. If I did I would go salsa dancing.

How my friends would describe me:

It depends which friends, not many people know everything that I get up to…. Crazy, reliable, trustworthy, never know what she’ll do next…

Me, Myself & I

These things are precious to me:

Learning, free time, good friends, exercise, music, salsa.

What drives me crazy:

Judgmental people.

Something I would never do:

Anything where there is a greater than 20% risk of death. I’m not sure you could persuade me to skydive either.

To relax I absolutely need:

A massage and no impending deadlines.

For this I would do almost anything:

Visit Antarctica.

Something that once changed my life:

Attending the final space shuttle launch and then the ATV-Tweetup.

Goal(s) & Motto

Something I would love to learn or to achieve:

I would like to learn everything. But seeing that’s impossible, I’ll go for as much science as I can for a better understanding of the big questions, if not the answers.

My Motto / A saying I can identify with:

“The idea is to die young as late as possible.”  “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

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