MerelyGifted 

NASA's Perseverance rover made a successful landing on Mars on Thursday. But the success of the Mars 2020 mission wasn’t the only thing people were celebrating nationwide—they were celebrating diversity. An Indian American engineer played a key role in the landing as the scientist who led the guidance, navigation, and control operations of the Mars 2020 mission.

During the descent and landing phase of the mission, Dr. Swati Mohan provided updates on the mission that were broadcast around the world as part of NASA’s livestream of the historic event. She was the "eyes and ears" for NASA's most sophisticated spacecraft to date. In addition to that, she led the attitude control system of the mission during its nearly seven-month and 293-million mile journey as the lead systems engineer.

She was also the first to confirm the rover survived its landing on the Red Planet. "Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life," Mohans said from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. According to her NASA bio, as operations lead Mohan serves as the primary point of communication between the Guidance, Navigation, and Control subsystem and the rest of the project.

"The spacecraft Perseverance is currently transmitting heartbeat tones. These tones indicate that Perseverance is operating normally and has nothing significant to report,” Mohan said as she provided updates on the status of the rover. A video of the moment, shared by NASA, shows Mohan wearing a small bindi on her forehead—a Hindu symbol that was quickly noted by Twitter users worldwide.

Many took to Twitter to not only applaud Mohan’s accomplishments and coverage of the landing, but to note that her wearing the bindi was a proud moment of representation and encouragement for those who have been bullied or afraid to wear it openly in the U.S. The tiny but powerful symbol she wore gave hope to Indian Americans that the country was moving further away from xenophobia. ...

...Mohan came to the U.S. as a toddler and was raised in the Washington, D.C. metro area. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science and doctorate degree from MIT in Aeronautics/Astronautics. According to her NASA bio, the mission to Mars was not her first—Mohan has worked on multiple NSASA projects, including Cassini and GRAIL.

“I’ve been on Perseverance longer than I’ve been at any school. I’ve been on Perseverance longer than my younger daughter is alive," she told USA Today Network newspaper Florida Today. "It’s just taken up such a large portion of my life for so long.” ...