‘Walking us through rover landing while wearing bindi’: Twitter hails NASA scientist Dr Swati Mohan

Twitteratis hailed Dr Swati Mohan, an Indian-origin scientist who led Nasa’s Perseverance rover landing on the red planet Mars on Thursday, with a user saying, ‘That’s Dr Swati Mohan, sporting a bindi no less, especially resonant cause memories still linger of racist/anti-immigrant “dotbusters”‘. 

NASA engineer Mohan, who grew up with dreams of exploring the universe, on the rover’s touchdown on Mars, said, “Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.” 

As the world watched the Perseverance landing on Mars, in the control of NASA, calm and composed bindi-clad Mohan communicated and coordinated between the GN&C subsystem and the rest of the project’s team, reports news agency ANI. 

Twitter was not late to notice Mohan’s effort as Twitteratis applauded the Indian-origin and her efforts in Perseverance’s landing on Mars. 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Dubbed Ingenuity, it will have to achieve lift in an atmosphere that’s one percent the density of Earth’s, a demonstration of concept that could revolutionise the way humans explore other planets

The rover is only the fifth ever to set its wheels down on Mars. The feat was first accomplished in 1997, and all of them have been American.

The US is also preparing for an eventual human mission to the planet sometime in the 2030s, though planning remains very preliminary.