NASA’s InSight lander has endured almost seven months in space, traveling over 300 million miles in a strange but carefully calculated path from Earth to Mars. After it’s lengthy journey, the probe has finally and successfully touched down on the martian surface.
The InSight probe launched May 5 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central coast. With a host of scientific instruments on board, the lander will study the Red Planet’s interior, gathering groundbreaking data about Mars’ composition and how tectonically active the planet is.
At 2:54 EST, InSight — which stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — landed on Mars. In its descent towards the martian surface, the probe first entered Mars’ atmosphere, 80 miles above the surface. At about seven miles up, InSight then deployed a giant parachute to help to decrease speed as the craft neared the surface. Less than ...
