NASA’s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander successfully touched down on Mars after a seven-month-long mission that had it traversing 300-million-mile journey from Earth.
InSight is the eighth lander in history to successfully touch down on the Red Planet. It was launched from the Vandenberg Airforce Base in California on May 5th, and touched down on November 26th on a flat, smooth expanse of lava called Elysium Planitia, at 11:52:59 a.m. PST. InSight is on a two-year mission to study deeper into Mars and how all celestial bodies, including Earth, were formed.
“Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history. InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
InSight’s surface operations reportedly began a minute after touchdown, one of the first tasks being to deploy the two decagonal solar arrays to power up the lander. NASA’s Space Odessy spacecraft which is currently orbiting Mars, sent a verification to the Insight team about the solar panels being successfully deployed.
Two days after touchdown, the engineering team will begin to deploy InSight’s 5.9-foot-long (1.8-meter-long) robotic arm so that it can take images of the landscape. It will begin to collect scientific data after a week. “Every Mars landing is daunting, but now with InSight safely on the surface, we get to do a unique kind of science on Mars,” said JPL director Michael
