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The NASA InSight lander has been on Mars for several months, having landed at the end of 2018, and has already made a name for itself through a number of interesting discoveries. More recently, the robotic undercarriage has detected what scientists think is the first "marsquake" recorded to date, but the bot's talents go beyond its sensitive ears.
In addition to its range of vibration detection equipment and digging tools, InSight is equipped with a high resolution lens that NASA can point to anything that looks interesting. Now, thanks to good timing from NASA, we enjoy a magnificent view of the Martian sunset from the point of view of the LG.
So, it does not have the same talent as a professional photo of a terrestrial sunset, but it's still great. As NASA explains, the photo was taken early in the evening, late April:
The NASA InSight lander used the instrument deployment camera (IDC) located at the end of its robotic arm to image this sunset on Mars on April 25, 2019, day of its 145th Martian day. This was taken around 6:30 pm local time.
This corrected version of the colors shows more precisely the image as the human eye would see it.
As NASA notes, the picture has been changed to show what you or I would like to see if we stood where InSight is positioned for the photo. The RAW image provided by InSight to NASA is actually a little brighter than the modified photo:
The LG still has a long life ahead of him, assuming everything is fine with his equipment, and he should continue to monitor Mars with his sensitive equipment for another year and a half. However, as with many NASA missions on Mars, it is quite possible for the LG to get a new lease and larger mission objectives once its main mission is over.
Image Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech
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