NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists want to know as much as they can about planet Mars, and on Monday, Nov. 26 - six months after leaving Earth - JPL's InSight Mars Lander touched down on the Red Planet to study the mysteries of its deep interior over the next two years.

Two women, Systems Engineer Dr. Farah Alibay and InSight Deputy Principal Investigator Dr. Sue Smrekar, have been especially invested in the project. 

Alibay, who sports a bright red ponytail and has been part of the InSight engineering team for more than four years, is not what people picture an engineer to look like - and that’s how she likes it.

"This is my first mission and I figured that I needed to have red hair. So I literally went to the hairdresser and showed her a picture of Mars and the InSight logo and said, 'You have to match my hair like this,'" Alibay explained.

The scientist also has eight piercings and a pair of NASA sneakers.

"When I was growing up, I was always the different one and I hated it. But now I kind of embrace it," she added.

Alibay is one of 120 women out of 440 total scientists working on the mission.

 "I wish I had someone like me to look up to when I was 12 or 13. There weren’t many women, or very few who were in tech who did these things," says Alibay.

Another female scientist involved in the landing is Smrekar, who is the mission's deputy lead. She will be busy gathering data as the lander drills 15 feet below the planet's surface, and began working on the InSight rover when she started in the field 26 years ago.

"Things have certainly changed, but not as quickly as I would like to see them change," Smrekar says.

Smrekar has helped lead the way for women scientists while also leading the rover to Mars.

"Obviously when we touch down I think we’re all going to be screaming for joy and we’re going to be excited to see what’s next," says Alibay.

The lander successfully touched down at noon Pacific Time, after a nearly 300 million mile journey.