{"id":27466,"date":"2021-02-24T18:39:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T23:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/?p=27466"},"modified":"2021-02-24T19:11:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T00:11:56","slug":"vandana-vandi-verma-nasa-mars-rovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/vandana-vandi-verma-nasa-mars-rovers\/","title":{"rendered":"Other than Dr. Swati Mohan, Indian-origin Vandana Verma Drove NASA\u2019s Perseverance to Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
It won\u2019t be unjust or exaggerated to describe 2021 as the Year of Indian-origin women.<\/strong> From taking the lead in international politics to piloting Air India\u2019s first and longest SFO-Bangalore flight over North Pole<\/a><\/span> to steering the NASA Mars 2020 mission \u2013 Indian-origin women are defining 2021 as the year of their remarkable achievements. The moment NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover landed successfully on Mars and Dr. Swati Mohan announced, \u201cTouchdown is confirmed,\u201d the world went gaga over the Indian American aerospace engineer\u2019s exceptional caliber, Indian roots, and bindi<\/em> on the forehead.<\/p>\n Other than Dr. Swati Mohan who is in the spotlight of global media for being a poster girl of the NASA Mars 2020 mission, Dr. Vandana Verma \u2013 the Chief Engineer for Robotics Operations for NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover \u2013 deserves a special mention. A space roboticist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Vandana \u2018Vandi\u2019 Verma is a leading member of the team having architected NASA\u2019s passage to the Red Planet. From operating a tractor in a small Indian town to earning a pilot\u2019s license to driving NASA\u2019s Mars rovers, Dr. Verma has had an extraordinary journey.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n