Photos Incredible! How a professor is controlling NASA Mars rover Perseverance from flat above a salon in London A 55-year-old NASA professor Sanjeev Gupta is controlling Mars rover Perseverance on the Red Planet from a flat above a salon on London. DNA Web Team Feb 28, 2021, 10:27 AM IST A 55-year-old NASA professor named Sanjeev Gupta is controlling Mars rover Perseverance on the Red Planet from a flat above a salon on London, UK. Gupta, who is of Indian origin, is currently working from a one-bedroom flat in London at a time when he should be with other scientists at mission control in California, US.