[ad_1]
Monday was a day of excitement for people of all ages. Children and adults from the central coast took part in viewing parties to watch the InSight probe land on Mars.
"Going back in time when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, I was watching him on television in Beirut, Lebanon. It was fascinating then, it's fascinating now. The technology is overwhelming, "said Kenneth Wolf, a visitor of the surveillance team.
The InSight lander is a technical marvel for NASA and the many other teams that have worked on this project. With this spacecraft, scientists will learn more about Mars and Earth than ever before.
"This will be the first probe to go to Mars to study the interior of Mars," explained Brian Day, principal investigator for planetary mapping and analysis at the NASA Solar System Research Institute.
Once InSight entered the atmosphere of Mars, many people held their breath to see what would happen next because the record of the landings of Mars is not on our side. Researchers say the success rate is less than 50%.
"You could really feel the tension here as well as the control of the mission, so it was really exciting to see," said Christina Gordillo, participant at the monitoring party.
Years of hard work and research have resulted in a safe landing of InSight on Mars.
The lander will now begin to study Mars in three different ways: the way it wobbles, the heat of the interior and the addition of a seismometer to the surface.
"The story is not over today, it really begins today. It's the exciting part, it's the exciting moment, but InSight is on the ground – it's on Mars and it's ready to start doing the job for which it was designed, "said Day.
So, what can we expect in the coming weeks? InSight must adhere to various internal procedures, such as deploying solar panels and, possibly, deploying its experiments before it can achieve results.
[ad_2]
Source link
