While NASA’s Mars rover is coming in for landing Thursday, there are two engineers’ voices you’ll want to listen out for as the spacecraft carrying the rover completes a series of maneuvers to safely land on the red planet.
During NASA’s last rover landing in 2012, livestream listeners would have heard Al Chen, who leads the entry, descent and landing into the Martian atmosphere, making the calls as the spacecraft barreled down through the Martian atmosphere.
Chen will again be there making the final calls announcing a successful touchdown but one of his deputies, Swati Mohan, will be calling out the descent and entry milestones. [RELATED: Mars 2020 landing timeline: From 12,500 mph to wheels down | NASA is about to land a tiny helicopter