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The NASA InSight lander is expected to complete its six-month trip to the red planet Monday afternoon, before starting the first in-depth study mission to Mars.
InSight, the first spacecraft sent by NASA to Mars since the Curiosity rover landed there in 2012, will dig about 15 meters into the earth's crust to control the temperature of the red planet and insert a seismometer into the Martian soil for study the "tremors of Mars".
But before you can do anything, the spaceship has to land.
Read more: The NASA InSight robot is about to land on Mars. Here's how he could survive "7 minutes of terror" and make incredible discoveries on the Red Planet – and the Earth too.
It will not be easy – the atmosphere on Mars is about 1% thicker than that of the Earth, which creates enough friction to burn a spacecraft but makes it difficult to slow down enough for a safe landing. Only about one-third of missions launched on Mars survive a 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 enter the Martian atmosphere at around 12,300 mph. It will only take him about six and a half 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 – shortly before 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. But InSight will have more mass when he entered the Martian atmosphere as Phoenix, making the 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.
However, InSight has a more powerful parachute, a better avionics and an improved heat shield, designed to withstand potential dust storms, to meet these challenges.
The InSight mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, which took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in May, was the first interplanetary rocket launched by NASA from the west coast. The LG was accompanied by two small Mars-related satellites, collectively called Mars Cube One.
Read more: A tiny satellite to Mars has just taken a photo that gives the red planet an insignificant aspect
Once on the ground, InSight stretches for 20 feet and weighs nearly 800 pounds. It will be powered by two solar panels 7 feet wide.
To measure earthquakes on Mars (which resemble earthquakes but, of course, not on Earth), the undercarriage will use a robotic arm to deposit a package of seismometers, able to record all the vibrations of the ground due to the impacts of meteorites, tectonic movements, volcanism, etc. or other seismic activity. These data could help scientists decode the internal structure of Mars, including how solid or liquid it is.
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.
In the long term, the research could be used to find out more about the types of Earth-like exoplanets that could favor extraterrestrial life.
How, when and where to watch live NASA's InSight landing blanket
NASA will rely on other spacecraft and radio telescopes on Earth to monitor InSight's radio signals and determine when it will reach the red planet. The design of the lander should allow him to land safely around 14h54. IS.
The landing will not be captured on video, but NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will broadcast live images of the mission control, as well as updates, expert commentary and animations showing each step from the descent of InSight.
You can watch the live event with the NASA JPL feed below from around 14:00. EST on Monday:
If the above feed does not work, try NASA's YouTube channel or NASA's TV.
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