Dr Swati Mohan says, Touched Down confirmed! after Perseverance rover lands on Mars
The latest rover built by NASA ‘Perseverance’ landed on Mars on Thursday and with this achievement, the rover became the most advanced technology to have landed on the red planet or the other world in general.
NASA’s perseverance rover struck off the Martian atmosphere and landed safely on the floor of a vast carter. This is the first stop by the rover which was launched with the purpose of searching traces of ancient microbial life on Mars.
There were a number of scientists who came together to make this historic journey possible and among them was the Indian American scientist Dr. Swati Mohan, who spearheaded the development and progress of attitude control and the safety of the rover while landing on the planet.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” said a calm, composed scientist and soon NASA rejoiced in the moment in the mission control room in California.
Each person involved in the process has a crucial role but the curiosity around Dr Mohan increased in India after it was known that she was born in India. The scientist moved to America when she was only a year old and discovered her inclination towards science and aerospace engineering when she started watching Star Trek as a child.
Her role had a significant impact on the landing of the rover as the person who controls the attitude of the body is responsible for pointing the rover in the direction it is needed to be in. The person basically lays down the path for the rover to follow and helps figure out how and where the spacecraft is oriented in space.
Dr. Mohan was confused between two fields when she was analyzing her professional choices. She wanted to be an engineer but also a pediatrician but she credits her decision to choose the former to her ‘great teacher’, who identified her talent and motivated her towards becoming an engineer.
She graduated from Cornell and has been associated with the Perseverance Mars projects from its initial days. She has been a part of a lot of NASA missions over the years and one of the most prominent ones is NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn.
Paul Rogers is a journalist and covers the environment and science news and he was the one who told the world about the Perseverance rover landing and the voice behind the announcement was none other than Dr. Swati Mohan. He tweeted, “If you watched the Mars landing today, the voice you heard was @DrSwatiMohan. She immigrated to the US from India at age 1, was inspired by Star Trek at 9, then earned a B.S from Cornell in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and an M.S. and Ph.D from MIT in aeronautics.”
