Alicia is part of a team at NASA designing satellites and rovers to explore our solar system. Much of her work has focused on ensuring that spacecraft successfully orbit or safely land on the surface of Mars.—Most recently she was a member of the Entry, Descent and Landing Team that delivered the Curiosity rover to Mars' Gale Crater in August 2012. Mars spacecraft have been collecting evidence that, in the past, the Red Planet was covered with water—such a discovery could mean that life might be possible elsewhere in our solar system. Alicia thinks the best part of her job is seeing pictures or hearing of new discoveries that scientists are making about Mars with data they received from the orbiters, landers, and rovers she helped to put there.  She says, "It makes me feel that what I do really makes a difference.” Alicia has had various roles in nearly all missions to Mars in the past decade including the 2001 Odyssey orbiter, the 2003 Exploration rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), the 2005 Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the 2011 Science Laboratory Rover, Curiosity.  She is employed by NASA's Langley Research Center.  (While she originally worked at the Center in Hampton, Virginia, when her husband was transferred, NASA allowed her to continue to telework from her home in Missouri.) Alicia grew up on a ranch in northeast Nebraska. Though she admired her parents occupation and loved living in the country, she knew at an early age that she did not want to follow in their footsteps. She became a physics major as an undergraduate. After a summer internship at a physics lab, she felt that beyond a small group of scientists, the work she did would not immediately impact people. She desired something more applicable to society. That's when she turned to engineering.  Alicia enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending as much time as possible with her husband and four children.