After dramatic plunge, InSight Lander sets down on Mars

The touchdown confirmation came after traveling through space for six-and-a-half months, touching down on the Martian surface at about 1950 GMT. An “I’m OK” ping from InSight came down to Earth at 2:54 p.m. EST (1954 GMT),

NASA’s mission control at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, which manages the InSight mission, erupted into cheers and hugs all around.

The six or seven minutes before the touchdown was a “nail-biting” experience after InSight hit the top of Mars’ atmosphere a little before 3 PM ET. The lander had to do a series of intricate maneuvers as it dashed toward the planet’s surface that slowed the lander from more than 12,000 miles per hour to just 5 miles per hour.

NASA's Mars Insight spacecraft launched nearly seven months ago with the goal of listening for quakes and tremors to see how the Red Planet formed billions of years ago

Gal ROMA, AFP

The suspense is not over yet
InSight’s survival on the Red Planet will depend on if it is able to deploy its solar panels which were stored for its descent. Mission team members won’t know whether InSight successfully deployed its solar panels until 8:35 p.m. EST (0135 GMT on Tuesday, Nov. 27).

The solar panels are critical to warming and operating all the equipment on InSight in the sub-zero temperatures on Mars. This is an immediate concern before NASA can even begin thinking about the scientific mission ahead. If everything goes as planned, InSight will begin its two-year probe of the planet’s interior.

The InSight lander, seen here in a NASA handout illustration, is designed to monitor quakes on the surface of Mars

NASA, AFP

Credit has to be given to the two suitcase-sized CubeSats, called MarCO-A and MarCO-B, which have been making their own way to Mars over the past 6.5 months. The two CubeSats played an important role, relaying data from InSight to mission control at JPL during the lander’s harrowing entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence.

MarCO-A and MarCO-B didn’t follow InSight onto the surface. The little probes flew right on by Mars, their work is done and their place in history sealed.

We can also say InSight is an international collaboration of the best kind. The burrowing heat probe was provided by the German Aerospace Center, and France’s national space agency CNES led the consortium that developed the seismometer suite.