Mars landing

Ali(ISP)

Tottenham till I die
Oct 16, 2002
25,912
28
Southampton, UK
#1
Is it not amazing that we can land a spacecraft on Mars which is 300 million miles away but the UK is struggling to get out of Europe? 😀

NASA's InSight rover has sent back a "selfie" of itself after successfully landing on the surface of Mars.

The spacecraft took the snap of the Red planet using a camera fixed on its robotic arm.


The rocky surface of Mars can be clearly seen with the Insight rover in the foreground.

It had touched down after seven months and more than 300 million miles and at a cost of a billion dollars.

InSight had a six-minute window in which to decelerate from just under 13,000mph to 5mph - landing entirely based on autonomous and pre-programmed systems.

It withstood temperatures up to 1,500C (2,700F) - hot enough to melt steel - before deploying its parachute and 12 retro-rockets to gently touch down in an area known as Elysium Planitia.

InSight will need to wait for the dust from landing to settle before it can really get on with business.

The craft's solar array motors will warm up and prepare to unfurl the solar panels - an important activity that ensures the lander, which is completely solar-powered, has all the power it needs.

The first picture from InSight, taken with a fish-eye lens and through a dust cover, shows the planet's horizon, which NASA said suggests the landing was a success.
 

ChaharMahal

Elite Member
Oct 18, 2002
16,563
261
#6
There has been previous non manned mission landings on Mars. remember the Mars rover?

i guess the big deal about this mission is it has drilling rig and it is supposed to tell us more about what is the crust of of Mars.

whether the planet has had water ....
 
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