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This illustration made available by NASA in October 2016 shows an illustration of the NASA InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars. The NASA InSight spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then press the brakes to achieve a smooth and safe landing in the red exotic plains. After each micromanagement, the flight controllers will be helpless in the face of what is happening at the end of the road, at nearly 100 million kilometers. (NASA / JPL-Caltech via AP
It all boils down to the last six minutes of a six month trip to Mars.
The NASA InSight spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then press the brakes to achieve a smooth and safe landing in the red exotic plains.
After each micromanagement, the flight controllers will be helpless in the face of what will happen at the end of the road on Monday, at nearly 160 million kilometers. The communication time between Mars and Earth is eight minutes.
"By the time we hear something, everything is already done," said Tom Hoffman, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory project manager. "Either that happened or it did not happen."
All small last-minute adjustments must be completed an hour and a half before touchdown, said Rob Grover, chief engineer of the landing team.
"All our efforts to ensure our success have all taken place in previous years," he said.
A brief overview of the Insight entry, descent and landing:
SIX MINUTES AFTER TOUCH
InSight will arrive as an arrow at 12,300 mph (19,800 km / h), piercing the peak of the Martian atmosphere about 114 km above the surface. Engineers fire for an angle of attack of 12 degrees, almost parallel to the ground. Too stiff, the spaceship could burn. Too shallow, it could bounce in space. The atmospheric friction slows down the spacecraft, but accumulates heat. Its heat shield is designed to withstand 1500 degrees Celsius (2700 degrees Fahrenheit). Once InSight descended to 11 km, his parachute opened at a record speed of 1400 km / h.
In this February 2015 NASA-released photo, the Mars InSight mission parachute is being tested in the world's largest wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. The NASA InSight spacecraft will enter the Mars atmosphere at supersonic speed, then press the brakes to arrive at a smooth and safe landing in the exotic red plains. After each micromanagement, the flight controllers will be powerless at the end of the road, at nearly 100 million kilometers (NASA / JPL-Caltech / Lockheed Martin via AP).
THREE MINUTES
Shortly after opening the white nylon chute, InSight drops off its heat shield and unfolds its three legs. After two minutes of descent under the parachute, the spacecraft, still supersonic, begins to use radar to determine speed and altitude, from about 2.5 km. It remains less than a minute before touchdown. With a reduced speed to 215 km / h, the lander drops his back hull and his parachute. It is less than one kilometer from the ground.
FORTY FIVE SECOND
Almost immediately, the 12 InSight descent engines begin to fire to further slow down the undercarriage and keep it away from the still fallen rear hull, still falling under the parachute. The lander turns so that his solar panels extend east and west to touch and his robotic arm is facing south. The speed of InSight is now 27 km / h, at an altitude of 50 meters.
FIFTEEN SECONDS
Now in so-called constant speed mode, InSight is targeting a ground hit at 8 km / h in a plain called Elysium Planitia near the equator. There, he will dig deep for heat measurements and measure marsquakes on a Martian year or two terrestrial years. NASA chose this place because it should be relatively flat and free of large rocks that could interfere with scientific operations. Parking near the equator provides optimal sunlight for solar energy. "It's a very safe place to land," Grover said at a press conference Wednesday.
LANDING!
It will be around 2 pm, March time, when InSight will land. It's 3 pm on the east coast of the United States and at noon for the JPL flight controllers from Pasadena, California. NASA estimates that temperatures could be of the order of adolescence or even a few digit number (well below zero degrees Celsius). Overnight depressions could reach minus 140 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 96 degrees Celsius). It is winter on Mars. "Probably not need an umbrella, but you might need a coat and definitely recommend a spacesuit, if you're on the landing site," joked Grover to reporters while describing the very dry Martian plain.
This illustration made available by NASA in October 2016 shows an illustration of the NASA InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars. The NASA InSight spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then press the brakes to achieve a smooth and safe landing in the red exotic plains. After each micromanagement, the flight controllers will be helpless in the face of what is happening at the end of the road, at nearly 100 million kilometers. (NASA / JPL-Caltech via AP
HELLO? HELLO?
Since the departure of the Earth in May, InSight has been followed by WALL-E and EVE, the first CubeSats to venture into distant spaces. The suitcase-sized satellites, named after characters from the 2008 animated film, will move to a few thousand kilometers from Mars, just as InSight arrives. NASA hopes that one or both relays will relay the InSight radio signals. If the experiment succeeds, flight controllers may be able to track the descent and landing of InSight, with an offset of more than eight minutes at best. Otherwise, news of NASA's orbiters on Mars will arrive.
SAY "CHEESE:
The first work of InSight, a few minutes after the landing, is to take a picture. The ground controllers want to see what they are facing. Big rocks or a hill could hinder the geological experiments of the LG at the stop. Once the red dust settles about 16 minutes after touchdown, the LG will deploy its solar panels and set up for its first extended nap on Mars.
Explore further:
Five things to know about landing on Mars InSight
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