Meet Dr Swati Mohan, Indian-American scientist who played key role in NASA's Perseverance landing Dr Swati Mohan was the first to confirm that the rover had successfully touched down on the Martian surface after surviving a particularly tricky plunge through the atmosphere of the Red Planet BusinessToday.In | February 24, 2021 | Updated 10:19 IST Dr Swati completed her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and her MS and PhD from MIT When NASA's rover, Perseverance, gently landed on the surface of Mars last week after seven months in space, millions of miles away in the US space agency's control room, a woman's voice rang out: "Touchdown confirmed!" The announcement was from Indian American scientist Dr Swati Mohan--the woman who played a pivotal role in the landing of the historic craft.