As Perseverance, the NASA rover, landed on the Martian surface on Friday, millions of miles away in the US space agency’s control room, a woman’s voice rang out: “Touchdown confirmed!”
The announcement was from Indian-American scientist Swati Mohan who leads the guidance, navigation, and control operations of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. In her role as flight controller, Swati played a pivotal role in the landing of the craft. Swati’s father Srinivas Mohan Prabandham and mother Jyoti Mohan are originally from Bengaluru and now live in Florida.
Swati (38), was the first to confirm that the rover had successfully touched down on the Martian surface after surviving a particularly tricky plunge through the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking signs of past life,” Swati announced, prompting her colleagues at NASA to fist-bump and break into celebrations.
Swati said the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations (GN&C) are the “eyes and ears” of the spacecraft.
Swati said she got interested in space after watching the popular TV show “Star Trek” when she was nine.
“She used to read a lot on space and had attended NASA’s space camp in Alabama while at school,” said her father about Swati, who enjoys akki rotti at home and MTR’s masala dosas during the family’s visits to Bengaluru. “We moved to the US after Swati’s first birthday in 1983,” said Jyoti.
(With inputs from PTI)