Washington: After seven months in space, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Perseverance rover successfully on the surface of Mars on Thursday. After surviving a nail-biting landing phase to touch down gently on the surface of the red planet, the rover is ready to embark on its mission to search for the signs of ancient microbial life. Among the scientists who are part of this historic mission, Indian-American Dr Swati Mohan spearheaded the development of attitude control and the landing system for the rover.

NASA scientist Dr Mohan emigrated from India to America when she was just one-year-old. At the age of 9, after having watched 'Star Trek' for the first time, she was quite astounded by the beautiful depictions of the universe. At the very young age, she realised that she wanted to do that and "find new and beautiful places in the universe. She considered "engineering" as a way to pursue her interest in space exploration.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University and completed her MS and PhD from MIT in Aeronautics/Astronautics. While she has been a member of the Perseverance Rover mission since the beginning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, Dr Mohan has also been a part of various important missions of Amercian space agency. The Indian-American Scientist worked on projects Cassini and GRAIL.

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