The landing take place at 2.53pm EST today , with a gambol - by - play of the landing being returned to Earth by two small companion spacecraft that remained in space , called Marco - A and B.
And within minutes of the landing place , InSight sent its first image back to Earth via those two mini - satellites . The image shows a region of Mars screw as Elysium Planitia , where InSight touched down to get down a fascinating foreign mission to examine the interior of Mars .
While the figure does n’t let out a huge amount , we can still see the apparent horizon of Mars in the distance ; InSight bear on down in mid - good afternoon local time on Mars . And we can also see how flat the region is , something NASA hadplanned forto make the landing place as easygoing as potential .
The range of a function is partially obscured by a dust cover song , with debris having been kick up during the rocket - powered landing . The lander will remove this dust comprehend presently , allowing clearer pic to be taken of the surface .
You ’d well get used to this horizon though , because InSight is not going to be roving around the surface . It is a stationary lander , design to habituate asuite of instrumentsto endeavor and look inside Mars , to secern us how this planet formed and evolved . So it wo n’t be going anywhere else on the surface .
It will do this in a act of path . One instrument will bore a so - predict " gram molecule " into the airfoil , taking temperature readings down to a profundity of five time ( 16 feet ) . This will tell us how active the pith of Mars still is .
Another instrument will monitor the wobble of the planet , say us what the essence is made of . And a third , a seismometer , will measure seismic waves in the ground that have been because of meteorite strike the major planet or the muscle contraction of the satellite itself as it cools .
Using two cameras on board , InSight will deploy these instruments on the surface of Mars using arobotic arm , the first probe on another world ever to utilise an arm to deploy its own instruments . Which is , you know , pretty darn awesome .
The mission is set to last until at least November 2020 , and by then we might have a rather more robust understanding of how rocky planets like Mars evolve . But for now , there ’s plenty of cause for celebration at NASA , as the agency celebrates their 8th successful Mars landing of all clip .
