NASA's InSight lands on Mars for unprecedented seismic mission

[webfact]

NASA's InSight lands on Mars for unprecedented seismic mission

By Steve Gorman

 

A life-size model of the spaceship Insight, NASA's first robotic lander dedicated to studying the deep interior of Mars, is shown at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, U.S. November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

PASADENA, Calif. (Reuters) - NASA's Mars science lander InSight touched down safely on the surface of the Red Planet on Monday to begin its two-year mission as the first spacecraft designed to explore the deep interior of another world.

 

Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles burst into cheers and applause as they received signals confirming InSight's arrival on Martian soil - a vast, barren plain near the planet's equator - shortly before 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).

 

Minutes later, JPL controllers received a fuzzy "selphie" photograph of the probe's new surroundings on the Red Planet, showing the edge of one lander leg beside a rock.

 

The first picture sent back to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from the spaceship Insight is shown on a video screen at JPL in Pasadena, California, U.S. November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

The landing data and first image were relayed to Earth from one of two miniature satellites that were launched along with InSight and were flying past Mars as it reached its destination.

 

The landing capped a six-month journey of 301 million miles (548 million km) from Earth, following InSight's launch from California in May.

 

Carrying instruments that detect planetary heat and seismic rumblings never measured anywhere else but Earth, the stationary lander streaked into the thin Martian atmosphere at 12,300 miles (19,795 km) per hour.

 

Its 77-mile descent was then slowed by atmospheric friction, a giant parachute and retro rockets, bringing the three-legged spacecraft to a gentle landing within seven minutes.

 

Once landed, the stationary probe was programmed to pause for 16 minutes for the dust to settle, literally, around its landing site, before two disc-shaped solar panels were to be unfurled like wings to provide power to the spacecraft.

 

But scientists did not expect to verify successful deployment of the solar arrays for at least several hours.

 

The 880-pound (360 kg) InSight - its name is short for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport - marks the 21st U.S.-launched Mars mission, dating back to the Mariner fly-bys of the 1960s. Nearly two dozen other Mars missions have been sent from other nations.

 

InSight's new home in the middle of Elysium Planitia, a wide, relatively smooth expanse close to the planet's equator, is roughly 373 miles (600 km) from the 2012 landing spot of the car-sized Mars rover Curiosity, the last spacecraft sent to the Red Planet by NASA.

 

PEERING BENEATH SURFACE

InSight will spend 24 months - about one Martian year - collecting a wealth of data to unlock mysteries about how Mars formed and, by extension, the origins of the Earth and other rocky planets of the inner solar system.

 

While Earth's tectonics and other forces have erased most evidence of its early history, much of Mars - about one-third the size of Earth - is believed to have remained largely static, creating a geologic time machine for scientists.

 

InSight's primary instrument is a French-built seismometer, designed to record the slightest vibrations from "marsquakes" and meteor impacts around the planet. The device, to be placed on the surface by the lander's robot arm, is so sensitive it can measure a seismic wave just one half the radius of a hydrogen atom.

 

Scientists expect to see a dozen to 100 marsquakes during the mission, producing data to help them deduce the depth, density and composition of the planet's core, the rocky mantle surrounding it, and the outermost layer, the crust.

 

The NASA Viking probes of the mid-1970s were equipped with seismometers, too, but they were bolted to the top of the landers, a design that proved largely ineffective.

 

Apollo missions to the moon brought seismometers to the lunar surface as well. But InSight is expected to yield the first meaningful data on planetary seismic tremors beyond Earth.

 

A second instrument, furnished by Germany's space agency, consists of a drill to burrow as much as 16 feet (5 meters) underground, pulling behind it a rope-like thermal probe to measure heat flowing from inside the planet.

 

Meanwhile, a radio transmitter will send back signals tracking Mars' subtle rotational wobble to reveal the size of the planet's core and possibly whether it remains molten.

 

NASA officials say it will take two to three months for the main instruments to be deployed and put into operation.

 

InSight and the next Mars rover mission, scheduled for 2020, along with others in the planning stage, are seen as precursors for eventual human exploration of Mars, NASA officials said.

 

(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Pasadena; Additional reporting by Pavithra George in Pasadena; Editing by Michael Perry and Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-27

[Samui Bodoh]

"...NASA's Mars science lander InSight touched down safely on the surface of the Red Planet on Monday to begin its two-year mission as the first spacecraft designed to explore the deep interior of another world..."

 

In a time of global angst, uncertain economic outlook(s), the breaking down of international norms and institutions, Trump, potential conflict in Eastern Europe, the South China Sea, and other places, terrorism, the onset of violent ideologies, global poverty, climate change, massive social change and uncertainties, etc...

 

It is heart-warming to see humanity reach out to the stars. What an accomplishment! Think about it; this machine left the Earth's atmosphere, traveled 301 MILLION miles and managed to land on another planet in one piece. Bloody hell!

 

Well done, NASA! Very well done!

 

There are times when I get overly worried about humanity's future, but when I see something like this, it re-kindles hope and optimism.

 

Again, Well Done!

 

(Why yes, I am a life-long Trekkie. How did you know?)

 

 

[Carib]

In the meantime the country has lots and lots of homeless and loads of people with no access to healthcare.. 

Reaching out to the stars??? What a load of crap.

[bristolboy]

23 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...NASA's Mars science lander InSight touched down safely on the surface of the Red Planet on Monday to begin its two-year mission as the first spacecraft designed to explore the deep interior of another world..."

 

In a time of global angst, uncertain economic outlook(s), the breaking down of international norms and institutions, Trump, potential conflict in Eastern Europe, the South China Sea, and other places, terrorism, the onset of violent ideologies, global poverty, climate change, massive social change and uncertainties, etc...

 

It is heart-warming to see humanity reach out to the stars. What an accomplishment! Think about it; this machine left the Earth's atmosphere, traveled 301 MILLION miles and managed to land on another planet in one piece. Bloody hell!

 

Well done, NASA! Very well done!

 

There are times when I get overly worried about humanity's future, but when I see something like this, it re-kindles hope and optimism.

 

Again, Well Done!

 

(Why yes, I am a life-long Trekkie. How did you know?)

 

 

But can it take selfies?

[Samui Bodoh]

17 minutes ago, Carib said:

In the meantime the country has lots and lots of homeless and loads of people with no access to healthcare.. 

Reaching out to the stars??? What a load of crap.

Respectfully, it isn't NASA or this mission which prevents the US from dealing with the issues of homelessness and/or health care; you need to look elsewhere for that.

 

When a country/society/people stops pushing boundaries, it enters a state of decline; the only question is whether it will be a fast decline or a slow one.

 

 

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Respectfully, it isn't NASA or this mission which prevents the US from dealing with the issues of homelessness and/or health care; you need to look elsewhere for that.

 

When a country/society/people stops pushing boundaries, it enters a state of decline; the only question is whether it will be a fast decline or a slow one.

 

 

The amount spent on this mission is trivial when compared to the latest round of tax cuts

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

But can it take selfies?

"Minutes later, JPL controllers received a fuzzy "selphie" photograph..."

[Tug]

Very very cool now let’s learn more about the sea it’s closer!but very cool indeed!!

[PremiumLane]

2 hours ago, Carib said:

In the meantime the country has lots and lots of homeless and loads of people with no access to healthcare.. 

Reaching out to the stars??? What a load of crap.

actually we have the money and resources to do this, and so much more... if we would only stop giving money to rich dudes and starting wars

[Longcut]

2 hours ago, Carib said:

In the meantime the country has lots and lots of homeless and loads of people with no access to healthcare.. 

Reaching out to the stars??? What a load of crap.

Your not looking at the big picture.

 Many of the things you use in your everyday life were first used in projects such as NASA programs. So, it does benefit mankind. 

[Stargeezr]

Great achievment NASA, glad it was successful.   Giving millions to the homeless is great if you can do that endlessly. It is a black hole.

Geezer

[lanista]

2 hours ago, Longcut said:

Your not looking at the big picture.

 Many of the things you use in your everyday life were first used in projects such as NASA programs. So, it does benefit mankind. 

That  policy doesnt seem to have done much for Detroit cars over the decades.

[Longcut]

25 minutes ago, lanista said:

That  policy doesnt seem to have done much for Detroit cars over the decades.

So, you've never seen cars with LED lighting?

[oldrunner]

The poor shall always be with us.

[DM07]

6 hours ago, Carib said:

In the meantime the country has lots and lots of homeless and loads of people with no access to healthcare.. 

Reaching out to the stars??? What a load of crap.

Yeah...ahm...the current administration has cut funding for all of these problems and is taking away health care from everybody and NASA is getting a fraction of the money, they used to, so your point is....what exactly?

[DM07]

Isn't it great what science can do?

Put machines on Mars, make your annual flu-shot, buildt planes for you to travel in...

Now, if some people, who laud all these achievements would accept, that climate change is real, manmade and frogging dangerous and that Earth is more than 6.000 years old...

[wgdanson]

6 hours ago, bristolboy said:

But can it take selfies?

Minutes later, JPL controllers received a fuzzy "selphie" photograph of the probe's new surroundings

 

 

Sorry Mr Winchester, did not read far enough before replying.  Wonder if it has a spell-checker on board?

Edited November 27, 2018 by wgdanson

[bristolboy]

6 hours ago, DM07 said:

Isn't it great what science can do?

Put machines on Mars, make your annual flu-shot, buildt planes for you to travel in...

Now, if some people, who laud all these achievements would accept, that climate change is real, manmade and frogging dangerous and that Earth is more than 6.000 years old...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/opinion/climate-change-denial-republican.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage