NASA’s Perseverence rover is finally on Mars and on Earth there are two scientists of Indian origin on the Moon: Swati Mohan and Vandi Verma.
“When Mars is visible in the sky, you look at that little dot and you think right now there’s a robot doing orders that I told it to do. That’s pretty wild,” said NASA operator Vandi Verma Reuters.
Verma, who describes her work as “one of the funniest jobs in the world,” is NASA’s operator for Perseverence. He hopes the high profile of women on the last mission to Mars will inspire a new generation to pursue a career in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
Verma’s companion, Swati Mohan, made headlines around the world when she narrated the landing that stung the nails of the Perseverance rover on the red planet after its dangerous descent through the Martian atmosphere.
“She is definitely inspired by girls from all over. It has opened people’s perception of who can be a space engineer, ”said Verma Reuters.
Indian-American doctor Swati Mohan led the development of attitude control and the landing system for the rover – “Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safe on the surface of Mars, ready to start looking for signs from the past life, ”exclaimed NASA engineer Dr. Swati Mohan.
The Perseverance Rover was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on July 30, 2020; landed in an ancient river delta on a lake that formerly filled Jezero Crater.
According to NASA, Dr. Mohan had emigrated from India to the United States at the age of 1 year. He grew up in the North Virginia-Washington DC subway area and later earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in mechanical and aerospace engineering. He received his MS and MIT PhD in Aeronautics / Astronautics. He has worked on multiple missions, such as Cassini (mission to Saturn) and GRAIL (a pair of spacecraft training on the moon). He has been working on Mars 2020 since almost the start of the project in 2013 and is currently working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
At the age of 9, after seeing ‘Star Trek’ for the first time, Dr. Mohan was amazed at the beautiful representations of the new regions of the universe they were exploring. He had immediately realized that he wanted to do it and “find new and beautiful places in the universe.” Simultaneously, Mohan also wanted to be a pediatrician until he was 16 years old. However, it was his first physics class and the “great teacher” he obtained, which he considered “engineering” as a way to pursue his interest in space exploration.
Verma, who has been driving rovers on Mars since 2008, said the latest mission would help answer questions “that change what we know about our place in the universe.”
Born in India, Verma studied electrical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh before moving to the United States, where she earned a doctorate in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.
When she joined NASA in 2004, engineers were often found as the only woman in the room, she said. But things are changing.
NASA, which aims to land the first woman on the moon in 2024, has a mission to foster diversity. According to the agency, women accounted for 34% of the workforce in 2019 and held 18% of senior scientific positions, about three times the 2009 figure.
Verma said it was very exciting to see a growing number of women’s apps, adding that several teams led to more “creative and out-of-the-box” thinking.
British space engineer Vinita Marwaha Madill, founder of Rocket Women, which aims to inspire women to choose STEM careers, said the models to follow were vital.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” he said Reuters, citing astronaut Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space.
“Seeing someone who looks like you allows you to believe that it is possible to achieve your goals,” said Marwaha Madill, whose passion escaped after seeing Helen Sharman become the first British astronaut in space in 1991.
Women like Mohan, the guide and operations of the Mars mission, “will inspire the next generation to get the stars,” she said.
A 2018 NITI Ayog The report “Situation of Women in Science Among Selected Institutions of India” finds that there are more women who are never enrolling in the field of science. However, women have not been in the field of science for a long time.
(With Reuters contributions)