The Logical Indian Crew

Meet Dr Swati Mohan, Indian-American Behind NASA's Perseverance Rover Landing On Mars

Mohan led the landing system's development for the rover, communicated and coordinated between the GN&C subsystem in the control room.

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Perseverance rover on Thursday, February 18, successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, covering 472 million kilometres in 203 days.

While the world was watching the historic landing, the voice you heard behind the landing was of Indian-American Dr Swati Mohan.

Mohan led the landing system's development for the rover, communicated and coordinated between the guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) subsystem in the control room.

"Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life," Mohan said.

She was the lead systems engineer and handled the rest of the team, reported news agency ANI.

Apart from being the lead of the historic mission, Mohan also looked after the team and schedules of the mission.

Early Life

Mohan moved to America when she was one-year-old and spent most of her childhood in the Northern Virginia-Washington DC metro area. She says she was inspired to pursue astronomy after having watched the 'Star Trek' Sci-Fi series.

Education

Mohan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University, New York, a Masters degree in Science and PhD from MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Since the beginning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, she has been a member of the Perseverance Rover mission and a part of various important missions of the agency.

According to the report, Mohan has worked on projects including Cassini, a mission to Saturn, and GRAIL, a pair of formation flown spacecraft to the Moon.

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Writer : Devyani Madaik
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Editor : Prateek Gautam
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