Mohan had always been fascinated by the vastness of space, and his curiosity was piqued by the vivid colours of the universe as portrayed in "Star Trek - Next Generation."
Swathi Mohan, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's guidance and operations lead, talked about her space travels, her critical role in the exploration of Mars, and her views on the importance of women in science.
Mohan had always been fascinated by the vastness of space, and his curiosity was piqued by the vivid colours of the universe as portrayed in "Star Trek - Next Generation."
Her early interest in the mysterious mechanics of the cosmos inspired her to study aerospace engineering at Cornell University and then guidance and controls for her doctorate at MIT, as reported by IndiaToday.
Throughout her distinguished career at NASA, she has contributed to projects that have explored the Moon, Saturn with Cassini, and most notably, the Mars Perseverance Rover mission. Her most recent project is focused on asteroid belt exploration.
Mohan emphasised on International Women's Day the vital but underappreciated role that women play in science, especially in disciplines like maths and physics where gender equality is still elusive. She argued that the best way to address society's most pressing problems is to use diversity and the unrealized potential of women to promote innovation.
Mohan is drawn to Mars because of its similarities to Earth, including gravity and an atmosphere with a similar composition, which make it a viable and fascinating target for extraterrestrial life research.
Massive obstacles had to be overcome in order to overcome the constraints of remote operations, and landing on Mars was particularly difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic. February 18, 2021, saw the Perseverance Rover make landfall on Mars with the Ingenuity helicopter inside.
By drawing comparisons between lunar and Martian landings, Mohan brought attention to the particular difficulties presented by Mars' thin atmosphere and gravity, which make autonomous landing systems necessary because of the planet's long communication lag with Earth.
In addition to looking for evidence of extinct life, Mars exploration also paves the way for future human colonisation by demonstrating cutting-edge technologies from missions such as Perseverance, which include MOXIE, which produces oxygen from carbon dioxide on Mars, and Terrain Relative Navigation.
Mohan is upbeat about the technological developments opening the door for this enormous accomplishment, even though the timeline for a human landing on Mars is still unknown. The potential for future collaborations in space exploration was demonstrated by her commendation of Isro and NASA's cooperative efforts, especially their joint mission to monitor climate change from orbit with the upcoming Nisar mission.
Mohan's fascination with space stems from the countless mysteries it contains; every mission raises new issues and deepens our knowledge of the cosmos.
She responded to questions concerning the colonisation of the Moon and Mars from a scientific standpoint, stressing the need to first verify the existence of native life before bringing any organic or human presence to these celestial bodies.
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