NASA's InSight lands safely on Mars after a 300 million mile peril and "seven minutes of terror"

After 205 days of space travel, NASA's three-legged InSight probe safely descended after a final seven-minute complex maneuver on the red planet Mars, followed by enthusiasm at the Propulsion Laboratory by NASA's reaction in California. around the world after a live action on the edge of social media platforms. The spaceship & # 39; InSight & # 39; NASA is designed to bury itself beneath the surface of Mars and break through crucial secrets kept in the deepest of the planet's pink atmosphere.

With the success of Monday, Mars has just received its last resident in robotics. NASA scientists have long been waiting for every InSight movement since its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 5th. The lander sits near the equator of Mars on the west side of a lava-laden expanse called Elysium Planitia, a plain almost as flat as a parking lot, just before 3 pm EST.

The very popular Twitter account InSight shot the first picture of Mars a few moments after the touchdown, then the following message: "I feel you, #March – and soon, I'll know your heart." With this landing safely, I am here, I am at home. "

The InSight team chose a "boring" spot for the landing because it wants the two main instruments of the probe, a sensitive seismometer and an underground temperature probe, to be undisturbed – in order to measure the most tiny fluctuations inside the planet. The mission is expected to last about two Earth years. The 360-kilogram stationary undercarriage will use its 6-foot robotic arm to place a mechanical mole and seismometer on the ground. The self-hammering mole will dig a meter to measure the internal heat of the planet, while the seismometer is listening for possible earthquakes. No lander has dug deeper on Mars than several inches and no seismometer has ever worked on the planet.

My first picture on #March ! My lens cover is not out yet, but I only had to show you a first look at my new home. Other status updates: https: //t.co/tYcLE3tkkS #MarsLanding pic.twitter.com/G15bjjMYxa

– NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 26, 2018

Our @NASAInSight blocked the #MarsLanding ! His new home is Elysium Planitia, a still flat area where he plans to study seismic waves and heat deep within the surface of the red planet for a two-year mission. Learn more at: https://t.co/fIPATUugFo pic.twitter.com/j0hXTjhV6I – NASA (@NASA) Nov. 26, 2018

After waiting in the l & # 39; waiting for the white patrol for confirmation To arrive from space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight controllers in Pasadena, California, jumped out of their seats and burst out in howls, applause and laughter when the news was reported that the three-legged InSight spacecraft had landed. The people hugged each other, shook hands, exchanged their high heels, raised their hands, wiped their tears, and danced in the alleys.

"Perfectly," said JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning.

"That's what we really hoped for and imagined in our minds," he said. "Sometimes things work in your favor."

InSight comes and everything that comes out of it is the kind of knowledge base that can forever change the world's science textbooks.

"Today, we landed on Mars for the eighth time in the history of mankind," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator. "InSight will study the interior of Mars and teach us valuable scientific knowledge as we prepare to send astronauts to the moon and then to Mars.This achievement represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners of the perseverance determination of our team.The best of NASA is yet to come, and it will arrive soon. "

A pair of mini-satellites driving InSight since May takeoff provides virtually real-time updates to the supersonic descent of the spacecraft through the red skies. . The satellite has also returned a quick photo from the surface of Mars.

The image was spoiled by debris stains on the camera cover. But the quick glance at the vista revealed a flat surface with little or no rocks – exactly what the scientists hoped for. Better images will arrive in the hours and days ahead.

"What a relief," Manning said. "It's really fantastic."

InSight, a billion-dollar international company, reached the surface after going 12,300 mph (19,800 km / h) to zero in six minutes flat, using a parachute and braked motors. It took more than eight minutes to radio signals confirming the landing to cover the 160 million kilometers separating Mars from the Earth.

Tours were held from coast to coast to coast in museums, planetariums and libraries, as well as at Times Square in New York. .

The last time NASA landed on Mars in 2012 with the Curiosity robot.

"Landing on Mars is one of the most difficult jobs we have to do in the field of planetary exploration," said principal InSight scientist Bruce Banerdt on Monday. "It's so difficult, it's so dangerous that there's always a pretty big chance that something is wrong."

Mars has been the cemetery of a multitude of space missions. Until now, the success rate on the Red Planet was only 40%, considering all attempts at overflight, orbital flight and landing by the United States, Russia and other countries since 1960.

The United States, however, has won seven successes on Mars. landings over the last four decades, not counting InSight, with only one ground hit.

Germany is responsible for the mole of InSight, while France is responsible for the seismometer.

A fiery Philippe Laudet, project manager of the French Space Agency, told JPL that, now that the seismometer is on Mars, a "new adventure" begins.

By examining the interior of Mars, scientists hope to understand how the rocky planets of our solar system were formed 4.5 billion years ago and why they turned around. So different – Mars cold and dry, Venus and Mercury burning and the Earth conducive to life.

InSight, however, has no life detection capability. This will be the responsibility of future rovers, such as NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which will collect rocks that will eventually be brought back to Earth and badyzed for evidence of ancient life.

(With Associated Press)