Girl Who Cleaned a Space Toilet Now Leads Mars Project

At the age of 14, during a work experience placement, Claire Parfitt helped clean a space toilet. Years later, she became a specialist leading one of the most important Mars exploration projects at the European Space Agency.

Claire, born in Nottingham, developed an interest in space during her school years. She initially applied for an internship at NASA but was rejected. After that, she got the opportunity to do a work placement at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

At that time, the centre was preparing for the opening of the UK's main space museum — the National Space Centre. Claire took part in receiving and preparing exhibits. Among them was a space toilet, which she helped unpack, clean, and maintain.

She also took part in receiving the spacesuit worn by Helen Sharman, the first Briton to fly into space. According to Claire, it was this experience that strongly influenced her future career choice.

She later earned a degree in physics and a doctorate in spacecraft power systems engineering. During her career, she worked on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, which explores the surface of Mars, and the SMILE mission, which studies the interaction between solar wind and Earth's magnetic field.

Since 2019, Claire Parfitt has been working at the European Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency in the Netherlands. She currently leads a team planning future Mars expeditions involving humans and robots. She is also the chair of the International Mars Exploration Working Group.

The specialist emphasized that Mars is one of the most important planets from a scientific perspective, and its in-depth study is of great significance for future human missions.

"Rosalind Franklin rover is launched in 2028, it will be a very exciting event. Over the coming decades, we need to carefully plan every step to preserve Mars and obtain the most valuable scientific data for Europe," said Claire Parfitt.