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Tech2 News Staff
Nov 27, 2018 9:05 AM IST
Applause and applause invaded NASA's reaction-control laboratory mission control room on Monday, as InSight, the agency's newest unmanned aerial vehicle, made a successful hit on Mars, putting so end to a seven-year journey from design to landing.
The $ 993 million spacecraft is built to study earthquakes, map the interiors of the red planet, detect the signs of its formation billions of years ago and, by extension, show how others Rocky planets like the Earth have appeared. This now marks the eighth landing on Mars in the history of NASA.
"It was intense and the emotion was palpable," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, in an interview with NASA TV.
I understand you, #March – and soon I will know your heart. With this landing safely, I am here. I'm at home.
#MarsLanding https://t.co/auhFdfiUMg– NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 26, 2018
The vehicle appeared in good condition, according to NASA engineers studying the first pings sensor InSight study of the surface of Mars.
As expected by the mission team, dust from the probe's landing created a film of dust and rock debris on the first image returned by InSight.
"Here's a quick attempt at distortion processing in the first image of InSight," wrote Emily Lakdawalla, editor-in-chief at The Planetary Society, on Twitter.
Here is a quick attempt to process the distortion in the first InSight image. The LG looks a bit sloping, which is not ideal, but the workspace looks flat like a pancake and is virtually stone-free. I wonder what's the right thing in front. pic.twitter.com/5tpnFoIL8J
– Emily Lakdawalla (@elakdawalla) November 26, 2018
"Looks like the LG is a bit sloping, which is not ideal, but the workspace looks flat like a pancake and almost without rocks," said Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager at NASA JPL, during the briefing following the landing.
The principal investigator on the French seismometer, Philippe Lognonne, is said "relieved and very happy" of the result. "I just received confirmation that there are no pebbles in front of the LG," he said. told AFP.
InSight will soon be preparing to open its solar panels, as NASA is waiting to see if this crucial phase has proceeded as planned and has not been affected by the probe's journey or landing.
Like all rovers sent on Mars before, the new LG will also run on solar energy once it reaches the Martian surface.
Entry, descent, landing
The spacecraft is the first NASA to land on Earth's neighboring planet since the installation of the Curiosity rover in 2012.
More than half of the 43 landing attempts, orbits and probes conducted by space agencies around the world on Mars have failed.
Mars's first image taken by NASA Mars InSight lander after his successful landing on November 26, 2018 on Elysium Planitia, a bit like a parcel of land. The visible dust on the image is a dust jacket protecting his camera until InSight sends a signal. badure the team that he has landed in a safe place. Image Courtesy: NASA JPL
NASA is the only space agency to have created and invested in these robotic missions to prepare for the first human explorers related to Mars in the 2030s.
"We never take Mars for granted – Mars is difficult," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate on Sunday.
The entry, descent and landing phase began at 11:47 (19:00 GMT) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where the Mars InSight Mission Control is located, and ended one second before 19:33 GMT.
A carefully orchestrated sequence – already fully preprogrammed aboard the Space Shuttle – took place over the next few minutes, called "six and a half minutes of terror".
Shooting at 19,300 miles an hour, the heat-shielded spacecraft encountered intense friction when it entered the Mars atmosphere.
The heat shield reached a temperature of 2700 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1500 degrees Celsius) before being scrapped, the three landing legs unfolded and the parachute came out, bringing InSight to the Martian surface.
This image shows an annotated image of the NASA InSight LG showing the key parts of the field and the LG after a successful touchdown. Courtesy of image: NASA TV
Purpose: 3D map of Mars interior
InSight contains key instruments provided by several European space agencies.
The National Center for Space Studies (CNES) of France has made the seismic experiment instrument for interior structures (SEIS), the key element of earthquake detection. .
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has provided a self-hammering mole that can burrow five meters from the surface – further than any instrument before – to measure heat flow.
The Spanish Centro de Astrobiologia has manufactured the wind sensors of the probe.
Three of the InSight seismic instruments were designed and built in Britain.
The Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika and the Swiss Institute of Technology have also made significant contributions.
"This is great news that the InSight spacecraft has safely landed on Mars," said Sue Horne, space exploration chief at the British Space Agency.
Together, the instruments will study the geological processes, said Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator of InSight at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
By listening to tremors on Mars, whether it's about earthquakes, meteor impacts or even volcanic activity, scientists can learn more about its interior and reveal how the planet is formed.
The goal is to map the interior of Mars in three dimensions "so we understand inside Mars as well as outside Mars," Banerdt told reporters.
With contributions from AFP
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