NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Has Landed on the Red Planet

Ground breaking news was brought upon everyone on November 26, 2018. NASA officially announced that their Mars InSight lander landed successfully on the surface of the Red Planet, ending a journey that lasted six months and more than 300 million miles. Shortly after 2:40 p.m. EST on Monday, the InSight lander entered Mars' atmosphere and at approximately 2:54 p.m. EST, touched the surface of the planet. Cheers erupted from the station as hundreds of workers watched and heard their successful creation make history. Not long after its landing the InSight sent its first picture to NASA. The picture was said to,”resemble kansas without the corn.”

In months ahead the lander will begin its study of Mars’ underworld. Mainly listening for tremors-marsquakes- and collecting data that will help scientist understand how other rocky planets, like Mars, are formed. Similarly, the main part of the mission will also not start for another couple months. The mission managers must first confirm the health of the spacecraft, including its robotic arm, which will lift the primary instruments of the spacecraft off of the main deck of the lander and place them on the Martian ground. While waiting for the approval, the lander will be checking the planet for any sort of activity.