‘Reflection of NASA’s progress’: What world media says on Indian-American scientist Swati Mohan

As the world watched NASA’s Perseverance rover make a historic touchdown on Mars, it was the calm and regular voice of Indian-American scientist Dr Swati Mohan that was heard offering fixed updates to the workforce as they navigated a very tough touchdown.
“Touchdown confirmed,” Mohan introduced because the mission management room in California burst into applause and cheers. “Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.” In a video of the historic second, Mohan is seen sporting a bindi on her brow — a element that has since captured the eye of hundreds of Indians on Twitter.

The parachute has been deployed! @NASAPersevere is on her approach to full her #CountdownToMars: pic.twitter.com/i29Wb4rYlo
— NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021
Mohan, who efficiently spearheaded the event of angle management and the touchdown system for the rover, was among the many workforce of scientists behind the Perseverance mission. The angle management system is answerable for pointing the rover within the route it must be and in addition helps work out the place the spacecraft is oriented in area.
The Cornell graduate first emigrated from India to the United States when she was only a yr outdated and spent most of her childhood within the Northern Virginia-Washington DC space. Mohan traces her love for area again to the American science fiction collection ‘Star Trek’, which she first watched on the age of 9. While she wished to turn out to be a paediatrician till she was 16, she later determined to turn out to be an engineer and pursue her curiosity in area exploration.

Newspapers and commentators all over the world have praised the variety of the workforce behind NASA’s historic Perseverance mission, hailing the work of Dr Mohan particularly. “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,” CNN wrote in an article.
Speaking concerning the nerve wracking moments earlier than the rover landed on Mars, Mohan informed the BBC, “I was so focused on what I needed to hear in order to know what I needed to say that it wasn’t until after I called ‘touchdown confirmed’ and people started cheering that I realised, ‘oh my gosh, we actually did this. We are actually on Mars. This is not a practice run. This is the real thing’.”

“@NASAPersevere is still in space right now, about 9,000 miles from Mars. So far, she is healthy and on course.”
Swati Mohan, @NASAJPL engineer on the rover’s touchdown workforce, gives a standing replace on the #CountdownToMars: pic.twitter.com/g5lSdyPPkW
— NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021
According to USA Today, NASA has come a good distance since its first various class of astronauts in 1978. In an article, it identified that many members of the Perseverance workforce have been ladies and folks of color. For occasion, Mohan, the article said, was a part of the Perseverance mission since its very inception.

But NASA nonetheless has an extended approach to go. “Recent employment numbers show 72% of NASA employees are white, with 12% Black, 7% Asian American, 8% Latino and 1% American Indian. Meanwhile, only 34% of NASA employees are women,” USA Today wrote.
On Friday, NASA launched a variety of gorgeous photographs of the floor of the Red Planet taken by the Perseverance rover. After it touched down close to an historic river delta within the early hours of Thursday, the rover will now seek for traces of historic life and can collect essentially the most important rock samples for a potential return to Earth.