Indian-American Swati Mohan spearheads NASA rover landing on Red Planet

New Delhi

As the world watched the new NASA rover touchdown on the Martian surface, it was Indian American Swati Mohan who virtually spearheaded the successful landing of Perseverance that will search for signs on life on the Red Planet.

“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” cheered Mohan, wearing a mask from the NASA headquarters in the US. The Landing was perceived to be “so dangerous” it was nicknamed “7 minutes of terror”.

Swati Mohan, who also participated in several key NASA missions like the Cassini (a mission to Saturn) and GRAIL (a pair of spacecrafts in formation on the Moon), had immigrated to the US from India when she was just age one and was inspired by ‘Star Trek’ series at age 9.

Mohan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University and completed her MS and PhD from MIT in Aeronautics/Astronautics.