Waterloo Engineering grad gets closer to his childhood dream at a desert simulator in Utah
A recent graduate of Waterloo Engineering is taking a big step towards his dream of becoming an astronaut and travelling to Mars.
Jin Sing Sia (BASc ’21, mechanical engineering) is now in the midst of a two-week stay at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, a facility that simulates the Red Planet to help researchers learn how humans could survive there.
Sia, who came to Canada from Malaysia to pursue his space ambitions, is the health and safety officer on a four-person crew conducting experiments and living in close quarters in a cylindrical structure about eight metres in diameter.
Jin Sing Sia (bottom left) with fellow crew members Dave Laude, Inga Popovaite and Lindsay Rutter.
“I think that by going to this simulated Mars mission, we’ll not only be contributing to research for Mars exploration, but it will also help me understand myself and how I respond to these kinds of situations,” he said in a media interview.
“For example, how would I respond to being in such a small, confined environment? Could I work effectively in these kinds of conditions, under pressure? So this is also a journey of personal exploration for me.”
Owned by the Mars Society, the facility is designed for research into technology, operations and science required for space exploration.
It regularly hosts field missions for scientists, engineers and university students in the Mars-like environment of the Utah desert.
Sia, who has dreamed of becoming an astronaut since he was 11, is conducting research on geographical information systems and participating in a sociological study.
An active member of the Mars Society of Canada, he applied to the program as a second-year student at Waterloo and was thrilled to get selected despite delays and downsizing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I'm going FOR REAL this time!” he wrote in a recent social media post. “After one and a half years of delays, I'm FINALLY getting to go to simulated Mars!”
Sia, now a master’s student at Western University, is chronicling his adventure in a blog. Go to Diaries from Analog Mars to read his entries.
Photos by Dave Laude
