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The last successful landing on Mars goes back several years: in 2012, NASA brought the robot "Curiosity" on the red planet. Another mission of the European Space Agency Esa went badly in 2016: the test probe "Schiaparelli" crashed during the landing attempt.
Today is the next attempt: Around 8:47 pm NASA 's "InSight" probe enters the Martian atmosphere and lands safely about six and a half minutes later. For the NASA team in the field, these minutes are a horror: the moments before the landing describe engineers and scientists as "six and a half minutes of horror".
This description is entirely justified: only about 40% of previous missions aimed at expressing the inner planets of our solar system have been successful. A variety of missions – including "Schiaparelli" – have failed.
The reasons for the high "accident rate"
Above all, the atmosphere of our neighboring planet makes the mission a little unpredictable: the thin air envelope of Mars considerably reduces the braking effect of parachutes. Thus, the probe could hit the red planet so hard that the probe would be damaged. In addition, the probe is equipped with heavy heat shields, so they do not burn when they enter the Martian atmosphere. In just three minutes, the probe shell heats up to 1500 degrees Celsius. As a result, the probe is heavy: the undercarriage weighs 358 kilograms.
One of the failures is the first European attempt at landing Mars 15 years ago: in December 2003, the British mini-lander "Beagle 2" had disappeared without a trace. For years, conjectures about his fate, because the lander has never reported again. It was only in January 2015 that NASA managed to photograph the stunned LG on the surface of Mars.
Here's how landing works
In theory, of course, there is a landing plan perfectly timed for the operation. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) expects the probe to enter the atmosphere of the red planet at 20:47 sharp (CEST).
And the same goes for the future: the frictions with the Martian atmosphere consist in slowing down the probe until a parachute opens twelve kilometers from the ground. The lander should then float on the surface of the planet. At 1,200 meters, the parachute is separated and InSight – braked by motors – as gently as possible at the touchdown Marbene Elysium Planitia. Experts speak of an extremely complex maneuver and one of the most risky of space.
That's the mission of InSight
If the probe survives the "six and a half minutes of horror", the searches begin in the form of several measures, which must extend over two years. Unlike previous missions such as "Curiosity", "InSight" should stay firmly in one place. In essence, the interior and the structure of the planet should be studied. Over the next two years, the development, structure and physical properties of the crust, mantle and core of the red planet will be studied.
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That's how everything should go smoothly: after landing on Mars, among other things, a "mole" (bottom right) is to drill a hole up to five meters deep in the planet to perform measurements insidePhoto: Photo Alliance / AP Photo
For the corresponding measuring devices of the DLR and the French Space Agency on board: The DLR has developed for the mission the "Mole" HP3, which has to widen after landing up to five meters depth in the soil, around the temperature and thermal conductivity explore. If the operation succeeds, it would act from the deepest hole, until here stemming from human technology on a foreign celestial body.
The French also want to record the waves that emanate from Marsquakes and meteorite impacts that cross the planet. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) have contributed to the seismometer and the DLR is also involved scientifically.
The most exciting space mission of the year: follow the landing "InSight" on Mars from 20h in the live stream of BILD!
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