Successful Landing Of NASA’s InSight Spacecraft On Mars

MessageToEagle.com – The unmanned InSight spacecraft landed on the red planet without problems just before 3 p.m. ET on Monday.

InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed.

“Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

“InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon.”

InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at JPL commented:

“We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph (19,800 kilometers per hour), and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only six-and-a-half minutes,” said . “During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly — and by all indications that is exactly what our spacecraft did.”

Confirmation of a successful touchdown is not the end of the challenges of landing on the Red Planet. InSight’s surface-operations phase began a minute after touchdown, writes NASA on its website.

One of its first tasks is to deploy its two decagonal solar arrays, which will provide power. That process begins 16 minutes after landing and takes another 16 minutes to complete.

InSight will operate on the surface for one Martian year, plus 40 Martian days, or sols, until Nov. 24, 2020.

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