[ad_1]
PASADENA Cheers erupted at NASA's reaction propulsion laboratory on Monday, while a waist-less unmanned aerial vehicle, called InSight, sank on Mars, thus ending a journey of nearly seven years from conception to implementation.
The Spectacular Arrival of the $ 993 Million ($ 1.36 Billion) Space Probe – Designed to listen to earthquakes and earthquakes as a way to unravel the inner mysteries of the red planet, how it was formed billions of years ago and, by extension, how other rocky planets the Earth took shape – marked the eighth successful landing on Mars of history from NASA.
"Touchdown confirmed," said a mission control operator at Nasa, while dozens of scientists were standing up to kiss each other.
"It was intense and you could feel the emotion," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Mr Bridenstine also said that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had called to congratulate the US Space Agency for its hard work.
"In the end, the day is approaching when we will land humans on Mars," Bridenstine said.
The vehicle seemed in good condition, according to the first communications received from the Martian surface.
But the dust raised during the landing masked the first photo returned by InSight.
In a crucial last phase, NASA told InSight that solar panels of a width of 2.2 m were open and were capturing sunlight.
NASA is the first to land on Mars since the introduction of the Curiosity robot in 2012.
More than half of the 43 attempts to reach Mars with mobile devices, orbiters, and space agency probes around the world failed.
NASA is the only space agency to have created it. It invests in these robotic missions to prepare the first human explorers related to Mars in the 2030s.
By listening to the tremors on Mars, whether caused by earthquakes, meteor impacts or volcanic activity, scientists can learn more about its interior.
The goal is to map the interior of Mars in three dimensions. – AFP
[ad_2]
Source link
