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NASA's InSight Lander, the first mission to study the deep interior of Mars, is expected to end its six-month trip to the red planet Monday afternoon.
InSight, the first spacecraft sent by NASA to Mars since the Curiosity rover landed there in 2012, will drill about 16 feet deep to check the temperature of the red planet and insert a seismometer into the Martian soil to study the earthquake.
But before you can do anything, the spaceship has to land.
It will not be easy – the atmosphere on Mars is very thin compared to that of the Earth. As a result, it does not produce enough friction for a spacecraft to slow down at a safe landing speed. Only 40% of Mars missions survived the landing; The United States is the only country that has managed to land something on the red planet.
According to NASA, the InSight LG will penetrate the Martian atmosphere at a speed of about 12,300 mph. It will only take about 6.5 minutes to slow down to about 5 mph. To do this, he will use a parachute and downhill thrusters. If all goes as planned, the probe should land on a flat and stable surface at Elysium Planitia – a vast Martian plain with few rocks or rocks – around 3 pm. EST on Monday.
InSight's design, including its heat shield and parachute, is very similar to that of NASA's Phoenix spacecraft, which successfully landed near the North Pole of Mars in 2008. However, InSight will have more than mass when it penetrated the Martian atmosphere as Phoenix, making landing more difficult. The new spacecraft is also expected to land at a higher altitude than Phoenix, which means it will have less atmosphere to rely on to slow down.
The InSight mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, which departed from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in May, was the first interplanetary rocket launched by NASA from the west coast. The lander left the Earth accompanied by two small satellites to Mars, collectively called Mars Cube One.
Read more: A tiny satellite to Mars has just taken a photo that gives the red planet an insignificant and insignificant aspect
Once installed, InSight will extend over a length of 20 feet and weigh approximately 800 pounds. It will be powered by two solar panels 7 feet wide. To measure earthquakes (which look like earthquakes but, of course, not on Earth), the LG has antennas that can record the magnitude of earthquakes and tremors. . These data could help scientists determine if the Mars nucleus is solid or liquid.
The LG is expected to collect data on Mars until at least November 2020. NASA hopes to use this information to establish new comparisons between the Earth's interior and the red planet. Ultimately, research could be used to find out more about the types of Earth-like exoplanets that could support life.
On Monday, NASA will rely on other spacecraft and radio telescopes on Earth to monitor InSight's radio signals and determine when they will reach the red planet. The LG's design should allow it to land safely on Monday even if it reaches Elysium Planitia during a dust storm, thanks to the thick heat shield that protects InSight from dust.
Although the entire landing is not recorded in video, NASA will broadcast live commentary and updates, as well as photos showing the descent of InSight.
You can watch the live landing commentary on the NASA feed below, from around 14:00. HE on Monday:
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