Main Image via The Star
NASA successfully landed its fifth robotic rover, Perseverance, on the surface of Mars on Thursday after its 6-month voyage from Earth. Perseverance was launched July 30, 2020 during the window when Mars and Earth were the closest to each other.
When NASA’s Perseverance rover gently touched down on the surface of Mars on Thursday after seven months in space, it was Dr Swati Mohan, who first confirmed that the rover is healthy and on target in Jezero Crater at around 4:55am Malysian time on Feb. 19, 2021.
“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” quoted Swati as cheers erupted in NASA’s mission control room in California, USA.
Born in India, Swati Mohan grew up in the United States, in the North Virginia - Washington DC metropolitan area. Swati traces her love for space back to the American science fiction series ‘Star Trek’, which she first watched at the age of 9.
With a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering and a PhD in aeronautics/astronautics, the scientist has worked on several NASA missions, including the Cassini space probe (launched in 1997) to explore Saturn and the two GRAIL spacecraft sent to the Moon (2012).
Info via The Star
By Thineshkan
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