Indian-american makes history on 2 planets
NEW DELHI: Eleven minutes after touchdown, Indian-american scientist Dr Swati Mohan announced to her colleagues that Nasa’s rover, Perseverance, had landed successfully on planet Mars.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” Mohan announced on Thursday as scientists in the mission control room of the US space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers.
By the time the Nasa scientist, made the announcement at 02:29am IST (Friday), Perseverance had been on the Martian surface for 11 minutes – the time it takes to receive a message from Mars to Earth.
It was Mohan who was responsible for the descent and landing of the rover through the thin Martian atmosphere, described by Nasa scientists as “seven minutes of terror”. And it came through.
Mohan, the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C) Operations Lead, has been working on the Mars mission for the last eight years.
She has previously worked on Nasa’s Cassini mission to planet Saturn and the GRAIL mission to the moon.