NASA InSight lander returns first photos of Mars surface – BGR

Yesterday was a great day for NASA. The InSight lander that was launched earlier this year finally arrived on Mars and successfully landed on the surface of the planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was pleased to see that all their hard work and planning over the past 8 years had finally paid off. Now, while the LG was still preparing for years of work ahead, the robot was taking the time to make his first pictures of his landing site.

The first image, a dust-covered snapshot taken moments after the landing, was difficult to interpret, but served as a charming tease for what was coming. The second image, taken from a different camera built into the robot, is much clearer.

In the minutes following the confirmation of a successful landing, all members of the JPL mission were eagerly awaiting the first image of a camera on the undercarriage. It was a distorted snapshot of the camera's context camera on the robot. The dust and debris you see are actually stuck on a removable lens cover. InSight will remove this filter to get sharper photos in the future.

The second picture, much sharper, was taken by the lander's instrument deployment camera. Although this lens is also equipped with a dust cover, it has avoided much of the malice caused by touching the undercarriages.

As the first major work order, NASA received InSight messages confirming that it was deploying its solar panels in order to start generating the energy its batteries need. Everything seems to work perfectly and it's a huge burden for the InSight team.

"The InSight team can rest a little easier tonight, now that we know that the spacecraft's solar panels are deployed and are recharging the batteries," said Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager, in a statement. "The day was long for the team. But tomorrow begins an exciting new chapter for InSight: surface operations and the beginning of the instrument deployment phase. "

The mission of InSight is supposed to last two years. So expect many new photos and discoveries of the robot in the coming months.

Image Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech