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Landing on Mars
The NASA InSight lander has spent nearly seven months in space, traveling more than 480 million kilometers (480 million kilometers) on a carefully calculated route from Earth to Mars. After his long journey, the probe finally landed successfully on the Martian surface.
The InSight spacecraft was launched on May 5th from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California. With a multitude of scientific instruments on board, the lander will study the interior of the red planet and gather innovative data on the composition of Mars and the tectonic activity of the planet.
At 2:54 pm EST, InSight – which corresponds to an inland exploration using seismic surveys, geodesy and heat transport – has landed on Mars. During its descent to the Martian surface, the probe penetrated for the first time into the atmosphere of Mars 129 km from the surface. At about 11 km (11 km), InSight deployed its giant parachute to reduce speed as the craft approached the surface. Less than a minute later, InSight releases its parachute and pulls its 12 retroreceptors, giving the probe additional braking force and allowing it to settle perfectly on the surface of the planet.
A tense landing
NASA engineers were forced to wait until the end of the landing to know if it had succeeded, because the communication between Mars and Earth had taken eight minutes late, but the landing had taken only seven about minutes. So, from the moment the craft entered the atmosphere of Mars until touchdown, JPL engineers anxiously crossed their fingers, ignoring the real-time status of the aircraft. 39; machine. During those seven long minutes, called the "Seven Minutes of Terror," the engineers waited to confirm whether the probe had landed safely – which, fortunately, had been. "It was intense and the emotion was palpable," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a live NASA film about the success of the landing. However, this tension quickly turned to excitement once InSight landed. "The excitement here is incredible," said Bridenstine.
The InSight mission team waited and "monitored" the probe's landing by monitoring InSight radio signals with radio telescopes on Earth and various spacecraft, according to a NASA press release. Two of these spacecraft, known as the Mars Cube One, or MarCO, have transmitted the landing process and even an InSight image of the Martian surface immediately after the landing. In addition, the mission hopes to have more images in about five hours.
S & # 39; install
The first days of InSight on the Red Planet will not be as hectic as the harsh descent and landing of the probe. In fact, it will take two to three months before InSight's robotic arm puts its instruments on the Martian surface, according to NASA.
"It took more than ten years to move from InSight from a concept to a spacecraft approaching Mars – and even longer since I was inspired for the first time to undertake this type of operation. of mission. But even after landing, we will have to be patient so that science can begin, "said Bruce Banerdt of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, principal investigator of InSight, in a statement.
However, while researchers will have to wait patiently for scientific data, InSight will capture valuable information shortly after landing. Before its scientific instruments can be deployed, InSight will photograph and monitor the terrain and the surrounding environment. This will allow NASA engineers to monitor Elysium Planitia, the "perfect" landing site, "vanilla" of InSight.
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