NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover hit the Red Planet on Friday (February 19). It is interesting to note that the Indian-American Swati Mohan was almost above the successful arrival of Sustainability.
Swati Mohan was the first to confirm that the rover had landed successfully on a Martian surface. “Touchdown confirmed,” said an activity leading Dr. Swati at around 3:55 PM Eastern Time (2055 GMT), as mission control at NASA’s Jet Deployment Laboratory in Pasadena marked the feat.
NASA released a video of this moment showing Dr. Swati with a small bindi in front of her. It wasn’t long before this caught the eye of Desi Twitterati who liked the Doctor’s appearance.
The parachute was used! @NASAPersevere on her way to completion #CountdownToMars: pic.twitter.com/i29Wb4rYlo
– NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021
After the photo went viral on Twitter, several users attacked Dr Swati, shouting ‘woman with the bindi’. Some users also shared their stories with loving bindi.
– Love how my Twitter feed loves a place to win – Hitting how much NASA is more diverse than the white-guys-in-a-certain-age ones – That’s Dr. Swati Mohan, bindi fun anyway – esp resonant cuz memories still look like racist / anti-immigrant “dotbusters”#Perseverance pic.twitter.com/wo3BRwHJ8w
– Tanvi Madan (@tanvi_madan) February 18, 2021
“Touchdown Tested” @DrSwatiMohan, GN&C source work leads as @NASA‘s #Perseverance landed within the crack of Mars.
No more the Hidden Figure in space, ‘Lady with the Bindi’ Dr. Swati has brought proud and inspiring women over to reach for & Mars! pic.twitter.com/AFZYZzqyrA
– Lakshmi M Puri (@lakshmiunwomen) February 19, 2021
I wore a bindi in elementary school until I was old enough to feel and feel self-conscious about people’s opinions. Admittedly, I still hesitate to post pictures of childhood because of it. Swati Mohan made me laugh 🙂 https://t.co/wfmeoYk0Of
– Hema Mullur (@HemaMullur) February 18, 2021
listen. I was wearing a bindi through primary school and got bullied, physical bullying for it. this does all sorts of things to me. swati mohan in mission control, thank you. #NASAPerseverance
– Anuradha Damale (@anulikesstars) February 18, 2021
Swati Mohan came to America as a child. She spent most of her childhood in the Northern Virginia-Washington DC metro area. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Cornell University and completed her MS and PhD from MIT in Aeronautics / Astronautics. Dr Swati is the Director of Operational Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) on Mars 2020.