NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance landed safely inside a vast crater on the Red Planet on Friday in its search for traces of ancient microbial life
“Touchdown confirmed!” rang out the voice of Swati Mohan, an Indian-American scientist, inside the space agency’s control room back in the US. She leads the guidance, navigation and controls operations of the spacecraft
Mohan moved to the US when she was a year old; was raised in N Virginia-Washington DC
Over the next two years, the rover will use its 7-foot arm to drill down and collect rock samples with possible signs of bygone microscopic life
Swati Mohan
Highlights
7 months: the robotic vehicle sailed through space before landing on Mars
472 million km distance covered
19,000 km/hour speed at which it entered Mars atmosphere
7 minutes of terror during descent : There were “7 minutes of terror” during entry, descent and landing of the rover, the most challenging feat in the annals of robotic spaceflight