It’s time for #50Precious Words! It’s always a fun challenge to write a full story arc in just 50 words. Thanks Vivian Kirkfield for the opportunity!

Last year, I was inspired reading about Operation Mars 2020 in which a rover named Perseverance was sent to Mars. The team had to contend with the chaos of COVID but it didn’t deter them from achieving their goal. What made it even more special for me were the images of an Indian-American woman called Swati Mohan becoming associated with this important event. Swati was the Guidance and Controls Operations Lead on the NASA Mars 2020 mission. It was her voice that made the announcement in the control room that day when the rover landed saying “Touchdown Confirmed”. As I read more, I realized that Swati was a representation of how diverse the team was. The team working on Operation Mars 2020 had NASA team members from different demographics. It is progress in the right direction.

Here is my entry

Operation Mars 2020 

By Sandhya Acharya

Word Count 50

2013 –

Concentrate, 

calculcate,

calibrate.

Swati and team’s mission?

Land Perseverance on the red planet

from their pale blue dot in space.

2020 –

COVID,

chaos,

confusion!

But the team –

strong, diverse – persevered;

found new ways to 

communicate,

connect,

collaborate.

2021 –

Swati, radiant with a dot on her forehead announced,

“Touchdown confirmed.”