How the NASA InSight probe landed on Mars, explained step by step

When NASA's InSight probe entered the atmosphere of early March this morning, it headed towards the bare bottom and rusted at a speed close to 16 times that of the sound. But in six minutes and 25 seconds, this supersonic race slowed to the look of a jog – just 8 km / h – at touchdown. "I'm at home," immediately told his eponymous Twitter account of InSight over 250,000 subscribers. The control room of the NASA mission exploded with joy.

It was not an easy walk. "Even though we have already done so, landing on Mars is difficult," said Rob Manning, chief engineer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in a video presentation. Guiding a spaceship from the top of the Martian atmosphere to the ground involves "thousands of steps", and each must be perfect, he said.

With the help of Nasa illustrations and GIFs, we will now introduce you to each great. landing stage of InSight. Everything is there, from the nervous moments that preceded InSight as a fiery meteor, to the first image sent back home.

Atmospheric entry. At 6 minutes and 25 seconds from the touchdown.

NASA's Rob Manning draws the landing stages. (YouTube / NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

"Atmospheric entry on my mark," said a woman with control of the mission. InSight was preparing to break into the atmosphere of Mars, composed mainly of carbon dioxide. "Three, two, one, mark."

A tense silence invades the room.

At this point, an important step has already been taken. InSight lost its cruising stage (see animation below) and, as an expert diver, is positioned so that its heat shield copes with the 39, Martian atmosphere.

Pop! My cruise stage is off – now I will be able to turn on my heat shield to face the atmosphere. Watch live: https://t.co/oig27aMjZd #MarsLanding pic.twitter.com / IeLGNbRUUF

NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) Nov. 26, 2018

The L & # 39; Angle of approach was now crucial. "It hits the top of the atmosphere at a very low angle: 12 degrees.Avery stiffer vehicle, the vehicle will hit the thickest part of the atmosphere and will melt and burn," said Rob Manning, engineer Chief at JPL. And less deep? "The vehicle will rebound on the atmosphere of Mars."

InSight enters the meteor mode and feels the heat. 6 minutes from touchdown.

This is not a fireball. (YouTube / NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

As InSight plunged into thicker air, the heat of its heat shield flew away. It would be "well above 1000 degrees centigrade (Celsius), enough to melt steel," Manning said in his presentation before the landing. Returning to the mission, a "plasma outage" was reported, "as expected".

"Insight should now know the maximum heating speed," said the control room. "Some parts of the heat shield can reach nearly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit because they protect the LG from the heating environment." This is well above 1600 degrees C. And @NasaInSight, the Twitter account, reported even higher temperatures. It did not seem too worried.

I fly in the Martian atmosphere at thousands of kilometers an hour. It's really hot outside (about 2700 ° F / 1500 ° C)! Fortunately, my heat shield is designed to keep me cool and comfortable. Watch live: https://t.co/oig27aMjZd #MarsLanding pic.twitter.com/99WXofPe3s

NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) Nov. 26, 2018

. ] InSight slows down and prepares for the parachute. Three minutes and 20 seconds before landing.

Once InSight began to collapse in the Martian atmosphere, it started screaming, not really at a standstill, but at a much lower speed. Over a two-minute period, Manning said before the descent, InSight would lose speed "with a 12G setback".

The G's are the forces at the stomach that you feel in your local amusement park. and catapulted around at ridiculous speeds. Twelve G is too much, even for fighter pilots.

After a quick deceleration, InSight was now ready for the next step. "InSight is now moving at 1,000 meters per second," the control room was informed. "Once InSight slows to about 400 meters per second, it will deploy its supersonic parachute 12 meters in diameter." (Do you have any doubts about your dream parachute expedition?)

Parachute out! Goodbye heat shield. 2 minutes and 20 seconds from touchdown.

Everything is slow now. But there is still work to be done. (YouTube / NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

"Telemetry shows the deployment of parachutes," it was learned in the control room. "Separation of the thermal shield ordered."

This step, says Manning, exposes the LG. "Six pyrotechnic vehicles fire simultaneously, which allows the heat shield to fall and fall from the vehicle."

And @NasaInSight loved him.

WHOOSH! My parachute is out. It's time to say goodbye to my heat shield and stretch my legs. #MarsLanding pic.twitter.com/TmcRoB94fU

NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 26, 2018

Pretty soon, three legs would come out of the lander. "About a minute later, the landing radar is activated, sending impulses towards the surface of Mars, while the vehicle begins to try to measure its height … and its speed of advancement", said Manning. "About one kilometer above the surface of Mars, the undercarriage falls off the cache and turns on its engines [12 of them]and very quickly the vehicle has to turn so the parachute and backshell [don’t] can hit it. "

" The last thing to do is that, at the moment of contact, the engines must stop immediately, otherwise the vehicle will tip over. "

Aaaand … [19659039ThistimeisgoodbyebackshellTalkaboutlosingweight(YouTube/NASAJetPropulsionLaboratory)