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Tech2 News Staff
Nov 30, 2018 9:41 AM HIST
NASA InSight Landing Gear safely placed on Mars after a seven-month trip and sent a confirmation image to the mission team a few minutes later.
InSight acquired this dust-laden image of the area in front of the LG using its camera-mounted Context Camera (ICC) mounted on the LG just hours after landing. Courtesy of image: NASA
Not long after, InSight had to undergo self-imposed health checks before unfolding its robot arm and solar panels to absorb the sun and recharge its batteries.
Aaah … enjoy the sun with my solar panels. ? After a long flight, and exciting #MarsLandingI feel good about stretching myself and recharging my batteries. (Literally.) That's just what I'll need to really start listening to #March. https://t.co/yse3VEst3G pic.twitter.com/LpsiI0KNNz
– NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 27, 2018
The LG has also deployed its first sensors from scientific experiments on Mars: earthquake detectors.
InSight took this image using its IDC (Camera Deployment Camera) mounted on the robotic arm on the day of landing. All the instruments of the frame are part of the experiments on board the LG. Courtesy of image: NASA
"Slowly releasing all of my accumulated tension, starting with loosening my grapple, as these before-and-after images show," said NASA InSight's Twitter account.
"Until I'm ready to extend my arm, my camera angles will be the same."
Slowly release all my accumulated tension, starting by loosening my grapple, as shown in these before-after pictures. Until I'm ready to extend my arm, my camera angles will be the same. Stay tuned: every photo I take will be sent to #Earth here: https://t.co/tjr8tfaCg5 pic.twitter.com/OAOTeA6uwq
– NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 29, 2018
Engineers plan to use the five InSight arms soon to embark on additional robot geologist experiments.
InSight has two color cameras on board, which have already returned 3 images in the two days following its successful landing.
NASA has not yet announced that all other InSight instruments are in good condition: CERN-designed seismometer for large or small earthquakes and its sensors to measure the heat that escaped the surface of Mars.
A replica of the Mars InSight Landing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Courtesy of image: NASA
InSight however has no instruments or missions to detect life. This will be left to future rovers like March 2020, which will collect rocks that will eventually be brought back to Earth and analyzed for traces of ancient life.
NASA built the spacecraft for a two-year mission on the planet. During this mission, she should learn more than any other spacecraft before the rock and seismic geology of Mars.
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