'Lady with the bindi', NASA scientist Swati Mohan's photo goes viral, desi Twitter abuzz

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover successfully landed on the Red Planet on Friday (February 19). It is interesting to note that Indian-American Swati Mohan had virtually spearheaded the successful landing of Perseverance.

Swati Mohan was the first to confirm that the rover had successfully landed on the Martian surface. "Touchdown confirmed," said operations lead Dr Swati at around 3:55 PM Eastern Time (2055 GMT), as mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena celebrated the feat.

NASA released a video of this moment which shows Dr Swati wearing a small bindi on her forehead. This soon caught the eye of Desi Twitterati who absolutely loved the Doctor’s look.

The parachute has been deployed! @NASAPersevere is on her way to complete her #CountdownToMars: pic.twitter.com/i29Wb4rYlo

— NASA (@NASA) February 18, 2021

After the picture went viral on Twitter, several users lauded Dr Swati, calling her 'lady with the bindi'. Some users also shared their stories with beloved bindi.

- Love how my Twitter feed loves space wins
- Striking how much more diverse NASA is than the yrs of white-guys-in-a-certain-age-group
- That's Dr. Swati Mohan, sporting a bindi no less - esp resonant cuz memories still linger of racist/anti-immigrant "dotbusters"#Perseverance pic.twitter.com/wo3BRwHJ8w

— Tanvi Madan (@tanvi_madan) February 18, 2021

“Touchdown confirmed” announced @DrSwatiMohan,  origin GN&C operations lead as @NASA’s #Perseverance landed inside a Mars crater.

No more the Hidden Figure in Space , ‘Lady with the Bindi’ Dr Swati has made  proud & inspired women across  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 notice and feel self conscious about people's comments. Admittedly, I still hesitate to post childhood pictures because of it. Swati Mohan's made me smile :) https://t.co/wfmeoYk0Of

— Hema Mullur (@HemaMullur) February 18, 2021

listen.
i wore a bindi through primary school and got bullied, physically bullied, for it. this is doing all kinds 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 Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C) Operations Lead.