NASA just weeks from its next landing on Mars

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Highlights of NASA Mars InSight Mission Briefing

2:01 p.m.

NASA says it's going to land on Landing Mars InSight on the surface of the red planet in a few weeks, no matter what.

InSight was launched on May 5th from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, accompanied by two experimental cubesats named MarCO which will serve as a communications relay during the descent of the spacecraft to the surface on November 26th.

InSight project manager Tom Hoffman told reporters on Wednesday that because of the ballistic flight path of the craft, the touchdown on the surface would take place at 11:47 that day "regardless of what it would be".

The LG, designed to stay in the same place and study the interior of Mars, including possible "Marsquakes" will arrive in the middle of dust storm Depending on the season, engineers have included additional thermal protection to compensate for the short but dramatic journey of the craft through the thin Martian atmosphere.

In the video below, Rob Manning, chief engineer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, describes how the seven-minute journey from the top of the atmosphere to the earth will take place:

Basically, the "cruise phase" of InSight will leave the LG covered with an aerosol in the atmosphere. The vehicle will deploy a supersonic parachute and release its thermal shield while traveling from 19,795 km / h (12,300 miles to the hour) at 5 mph just before landing, when the retro rockets will fire. to ensure a soft touch.

According to Hoffman, InSight will land in a large part of the planet called Elysium Planitia, in a section that looks like a parking lot with some rocks.

While NASA will broadcast live coverage of the landing on November 26, do not expect an epic view of the landing, to which we are accustomed with the SpaceX Falcon 9 recoveries. Both onboard cameras aboard Insight will only take their first pictures when the dust of the landing is gone.

The reconnaissance orbiter Mars might perhaps take a picture of Insight and its parachute deployed during the descent, but it's probably the best view we can hope for from the landing process .

Nevertheless, all these live scenes of moments of tension on the part of the direction of the mission will be the setting of an interesting setting on November 26th.

NASA is 60 years old: the space agency has pushed humanity further than anyone and plans to go further.

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