NASA’s Perseverance Rover is finally on Mars, and on Earth, two scientists of Indian origin are over the Moon – Swati Mohan and Vandi Verma.
“When Mars is visible in the sky, you look at that little spot and you think there’s a robot now that makes commands that I told it to do. It’s pretty wild, “said NASA rover operator Vandi Verma Reuters.
Verma, who describes her job as “one of the coolest jobs in the world,” is NASA’s Perseverance Operator. She hopes that the high profile of women in the latest mission to Mars will inspire a new generation to pursue careers in a traditionally male-dominated sector.
Verma’s colleague, Swati Mohan, made headlines around the world when she told of the stingy landing of the Red Planet Perseverance rover following its dangerous descent through the Martian atmosphere.
“She is definitely inspired by girls everywhere. It opened people’s perceptions about who can be a space engineer “, Verma added Reuters.
Dr. Swati Mohan, American-American, led the development of attitude control and the rover landing system – “Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safe on the surface of Mars, ready to start looking for the signs of the past life “, exclaimed the NASA engineer Dr Swati Mohan.
Perseverance Rover was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on July 30, 2020 – it landed on an ancient river delta in a lake that once filled Jezero Crater.
According to NASA, Dr. Mohan emigrated from India to the United States at the age of one. He grew up in the North Virginia-Washington DC subway area and later completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University. He continued to receive his MS and PhD from MIT in Aeronautics / Astronautics. She has worked on several missions, such as Cassini (Saturn mission) and GRAIL (a pair of spaceships flying to the moon). She has been working on Mars 2020 since the beginning of the project in 2013 and is currently working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.
At the age of 9, after watching “Star Trek” for the first time, Dr. Mohan was amazed by the beautiful descriptions of the new regions of the universe they were exploring. He immediately realized that he wanted to do this and “find new and beautiful places in the universe.” At the same time, Mohan wanted to become a pediatrician until the age of 16. However, her first physics class and the “great teacher” she received, she considered “engineering” as a way to pursue her interest in space exploration.
Verma, who has been leading rovers on Mars since 2008, said the latest mission will 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 NASA joined in 2004, female engineers often found themselves the only woman in the room, she said. But things are changing.
NASA, which aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024, has a mission to increase diversity. Women accounted for 34% of the workforce in 2019, holding 18% of high-ranking scientific positions, about three times the figure for 2009, according to the agency.
Verma said it was very interesting to see an increasing number of applications from women, adding that various teams have led to “creative thinking that has not been developed.”
British space engineer Vinita Marwaha Madill – the founder of Rocket Women, which aims to inspire women to choose STEM careers – said that models are vital.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” she said Reuters, quoting astronaut Sally Ride, the first US woman in space.
“Seeing someone who looks like you allows you to believe that you can achieve your goals,” said Marwaha Madill, whose passion took off after seeing Helen Sharman become the first British astronaut in space. in 1991.
Women like Mohan, the head of the Mars mission and the head of operations, will “inspire the next generation to reach the stars,” she said.
A 2018 NITI Ayog The report “The situation of women in science among selected institutions in India” finds that there are more women than ever enrolled in science. However, women do not continue much in the field of science.
(With Reuters entries)