NASA's Perseverance Rover Successfully Lands On Mars; Meet Swati Mohan, Indian-American leading the operation

After seven months in space, NASA's Perseverance rover survived a nail-biting landing phase to touch down gently on the surface of Mars on February 18. It is now ready to embark on its mission to search for the signs of ancient microbial life. "Touchdown confirmed," said operations lead Swati Mohan at around 3:55 pm Eastern Time (2055 GMT), as mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena erupted in cheers. The autonomously guided procedure was completed more than 11 minutes earlier, which is how long it takes for radio signals to return to Earth. "WOW!!" tweeted NASA Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen as he posted Perseverance's first black and white image from the Jezero Crater in Mars' northern hemisphere. Watch the video to know more.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 19, 2021 02:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).