InSight takes pictures of Mars and starts moving the robotic arm

After landing on Mars on Monday, the American module InSight seems to be in good shape after its interplanetary journey. NASA engineers are now preparing to operate their robotic arm.

The InSight module is equipped with two color cameras and has already sent six photos to Earth since landing on Monday at 19:52:59 GMT (17:52:59 GMT).

The module is attached to the ground and will remain so during the two years of its mission.

The images sent to Earth so far have been taken from the same angle.

in them it is possible to see a clear sky and an apparently flat surface. Dust sometimes obscures images taken with the camera installed on the module platform.

The transparent lens protector will then be removed and the camera will render the images sharper.

InSight, an acronym for Inner Exploration, using seismic investigation, geodesy and heat transfer, is equipped with an articulated robotic arm at the end of which is a five-fingered clamp.

This clip will be used to grab and support the two InSight instruments on Martian soil over the next three months.

For the moment, NASA engineers have begun to slightly release the tension of the clamp, with good results, according to two photos of Tuesday and Thursday, which show that the clamp has been moved.

NASA has not provided any additional information on the status of the instruments.

On Monday night, a few hours after landing, he said the solar panels had been properly installed and began charging InSight batteries, his only source of power.

According to NASA, the power is 600 to 700 watts in good weather, the same power needed to power a kitchen mixer.

In Paris, the National Center for Space Studies, which has developed the main instrument, SEIS seismograph, is calling on NASA to report on the state of the instruments.

"It will take several days to know the exact condition of the seismograph, but it seems to be going for the better," he told AFP. "Everything seems normal for the moment."

In the coming days, the robotic arm should start to be used. The camera mounted on the arm can take a picture of the immediate InSight area and check for a flat, stone-free location in front of the module to support the instruments.