She started working on the Mars 2020 mission in 2013, and ultimately became the lead engineer for guidance, navigation and controls operations. Eventually, she landed at NASA.īefore her work on Perseverance, Mohan was a part of space exploration efforts such as Cassini, a spacecraft that unearthed countless discoveries about Saturn, and GRAIL, a mission that sent twin spacecraft around the moon. Mohan went on to study mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University, followed by a masters degree and doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars and sent back its first images Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land safely on Feb. It wasn’t until she took her first physics class at age 16 that she began considering a career in engineering, which would allow her to follow her childhood dreams of exploring space.Īn illustration of NASA's Perseverance rover landing safely on Mars. Still, she thought she would grow up to become a pediatrician.

“The vastness of space holds so much knowledge that we have only begun to learn.” I want to find new and beautiful places in the universe,’” she recalled in a Q&A on NASA’s website. It opened up her world to the beauty and expanse of the universe.

Mohan has been interested in space ever since she saw her first “Star Trek” television episode at age 9. Her passion for space started with ‘Star Trek’ Not only is Mohan a pivotal player in the effort to determine whether there was ever life on the red planet she’s also a reflection of the progress NASA has made in reflecting the nation it represents. Mohan, an Indian American who moved to the United States when she was a year old, is the guidance and controls operations lead for the Perseverance rover mission, acting as the “eyes and ears” for NASA’s most sophisticated spacecraft to date.

But before that nail-biting moment, Mohan had been working for years to make it all happen. You might have seen her in the front row of the control room, bindi on her forehead, providing constant updates to the team as mission commentator for the historic landing. “Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.” “Touchdown confirmed,” she announced to roaring applause from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It was Swati Mohan who first delivered the news to earthlings that NASA’s Perseverance rover had successfully landed on Mars.

Nasa mars rover landing pictures