Question: "Hi Lori-Ann, why do you use computer programmes for your job?"

Lori-Ann Foley answered on 11 Mar 2020: last edited 11 Mar 2020 8:59 pm

Hi there. I use computer programmes because I use them to study the weather on Mars. They are the same programmes that weather forecasters use for Earth but they have been adapted for Mars – so no oceans or life and Mars is smaller and has lighter gravity. I can set the programme to show what the weather is like today or I can use it to look at the weather a long time ago – million’s of years. I like using them because I love the anticipation of what data will come out and wondering what it will show. I take the output (which is like spreadsheets full of numbers) and turn that into pictures and graphs to make it easier for me to understand and to show people.