She was rejected by NASA at 14, then unpacked a space toilet: Claire Parfitt’s unlikely journey from a teenage work-experience placement to leading Mars exploration studies at the European Space Agency

At 14, Claire Parfitt already knew she wanted to work in the space industry. Her first attempt was to get work experience at NASA. She was rejected.

Instead, she found an opportunity much closer to home at the National Space Centre in Leicester, which was being prepared for its 2001 opening. It may not have been the glamorous start she imagined, but that placement became an important first step toward a career that would eventually take her to the European Space Agency (ESA).

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Today, Parfitt, 42, leads Mars exploration studies at ESA. And one of the most memorable details from her teenage work experience involves something far less glamorous than a rocket: a space toilet.

NASA said no, so she found another way into space

Parfitt’s childhood ambition was clear. She wanted to experience the space industry and applied to NASA for work experience.

When that did not work out, she turned to the National Space Centre in Leicester. Because the centre was still being prepared for its opening, the exhibits had not yet gone on display. Parfitt helped unpack them — including an unusual piece of equipment she had never encountered before.

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“One of those was a space toilet, which I had never seen before and I helped to unpack it,” she recalled.

The experience might sound funny today, but Parfitt saw it differently. “It was just an unusual piece of technology that is used for space missions, so it was really interesting to see,” she said.

That early exposure gave the teenager a glimpse of what working in the space industry could actually look like — including the practical technology that makes missions possible.

From unpacking a space toilet to studying Mars

Parfitt’s career did not take off overnight. She went on to earn a physics degree and a PhD in spacecraft power systems engineering before working in the UK space industry. In 2019, she joined ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands.

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Her work has included major projects such as the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover and the SMILE mission.

The Rosalind Franklin rover is particularly significant for Mars exploration. It is designed to drill up to two metres beneath the Martian surface, where scientists hope to find material better protected from radiation and potentially preserved evidence of the planet’s ancient environment.

“When Rosalind Franklin launches in 2028 that will be extremely exciting,” Parfitt said.

Claire Parfitt now helps plan the future of Mars exploration

Parfitt has come a long way from that teenage placement.

She now leads ESA’s Mars exploration study team, working on plans for future robotic and human missions. She also chairs an international working group focused on coordinating Mars exploration efforts between space agencies.

But her approach is less about spectacular headlines and more about long-term planning.

“We have to plan the next decades carefully to make sure that we preserve Mars and get the best science data that we can back for Europe,” she said.

That perspective makes her teenage experience even more interesting. Her first contact with space technology was not a launch or a Mars rover. It was simply getting close enough to see how the machinery worked.

The rejection that did not stop her

Looking back, Parfitt believes the work experience helped shape her career.

“I’m pretty sure it put me on the track that I’m on now for my space career,” she said.

She also remembered that the National Space Centre’s director at the time was a woman, Alex Hall. Seeing a woman in a leadership position helped Parfitt imagine that she could build a career in the field too.

The story is therefore about more than a space toilet.

It is about how a rejected application can lead to an unexpected opportunity — and how a seemingly ordinary first step can eventually lead to an extraordinary career.

For Parfitt, that first step happened at 14. More than two decades later, she is helping shape humanity’s plans for Mars.