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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A NASA spacecraft designed to enter the interior of Mars landed on the planet Monday after a perilous and supersonic dive across its red sky, causing jubilation among scientists who had been waiting in waiting for confirmation of fingers. over 100 million miles of space.
The NASA reaction propulsion laboratory flight controllers in Pasadena, California, jumped out of their chairs, shouting, dancing and hugging, after learning that InSight had arrived on Mars, the cemetery from a multitude of previous missions.
"Touchdown confirmed!", Announced a flight controller shortly before 3 pm. EAST, instantly dispelling the worry in the control room as the spacecraft made its descent six minutes.
Due to the distance between Earth and Mars, the confirmation took eight minutes, relayed by a pair of tiny satellites that followed InSight throughout the six-month trip on a 300-million-mile route (482 million kilometers ).
The two satellites not only delivered the good news almost in real time, but also returned the first snapshot of InSight's Mars video 4 minutes and a half after landing.
The picture was covered with dust, because the dust cover was still visible on the LG camera, but at first glance the terrain was smooth and sandy, leaving only an imposing rock – pretty much what that scientists hoped. Better photos are expected in the next days.
It was NASA's eighth successful landing on Earth since the 1976 Viking Probe, and the first in six years. The NASA Curiosity robot, arrived in 2012, is still moving on Mars.
"Flawless," said Rob Manning, chief engineer of JPL. "That's what we really hoped and imagined in our minds," he added. "Sometimes things work in your favor."
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who was presiding over his first landing on Mars as head of the space agency, said, "What an amazing day for our country."
InSight, part of a billion-dollar international mission, includes a German-led mechanical mole that will dig a depth of 5 meters (16 feet) to measure the planet's internal heat. Nothing has ever dug deeper into Mars than several inches. The lander also has a seismometer of French manufacture to measure earthquakes, if they exist at our smaller neighbor, geologically quieter.
Another experiment will calculate Mars' wobble to reveal the composition of the planet's core.
"In the coming months and years, the history books on the inside of Mars will be rewritten," said JPL Director Michael Watkins.
Many spacecraft bound for Mars launched by the United States, Russia and other space countries have been lost or destroyed over the years, with a success rate of only 40%, not counting InSight.
NASA opted this time for a straightforward and straightforward approach, using a parachute and braking motors to boost the speed of InSight at a speed of 12,300 km / h (19,800 km / h) when it was used. it crossed the Martian atmosphere, about 114 km, at a speed of 5 km / h to the touch. The danger was that the spacecraft could be consumed in the atmosphere or rebound.
Three-legged InSight is installed on the west side of Elysium Planitia, the plain NASA was aiming for. Project leader Tom Hoffman said the probe had landed near the center of the target, but NASA had not yet made the final calculations.
He said that it was hard to say on the first photo if there were any nearby slopes, but that he seemed to have gotten the flat and smooth "parking" that he hoped for .
United States museums, planetariums and libraries have organized observational nights to follow the events at the JPL. NASA TV's coverage was also broadcast on the giant Times Square screen in New York, where the crowd huddled under umbrellas in the rain.
The 800-pound InSight (360 kilograms) is stationary and will work in the same place for the next two years, the duration of a Martian year. His first job was to get a quick picture. The next task was to unfold his solar panels. NASA wanted to wait 16 minutes for the dust to settle before attempting this; Monday night we were waiting for news of the situation.
It will take months to install and adjust the instruments. Senior scientist, Bruce Banerdt, said that he was not expecting to receive a solid data stream by the end of next spring. It may take the whole mission to actually get the goods.
"It's going to be awesome. I can not wait to start seeing marsquakes, "said Hoffman.
The well-preserved interior of Mars provides a glimpse of what the Earth might have looked like after its formation, 4.5 billion years ago, according to Banerdt. While Earth is seismic, Mars "decided to rest on its laurels" after its formation, he said.
By examining and mapping inside Mars, scientists hope to understand why the rocky planets of our solar system have proved so different and why Earth has become a refuge for life.
Still, there are no life sensors onboard InSight. NASA's next mission, the March 2020 rover, will search for rocks that may contain traces of ancient life.
The question of whether life ever existed in the wet and wet past of Mars is what brings NASA back to the fourth stone of the sun.
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