![]() The InSight lander with solar panels deployed in a cleanroom during preflight testing | |||||||||||
Names | InSight GEMS Discovery 12 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mission type | Mars lander | ||||||||||
Operator | NASA / JPL | ||||||||||
COSPAR ID | 2018-042A | ||||||||||
SATCAT no. | 43457 | ||||||||||
Website | science.nasa.gov | ||||||||||
Mission duration | Planned: 709 sols (2 years)[1] Final: 1440 sols (4 years, 19 days) | ||||||||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin Space | ||||||||||
Launch mass | 694 kg (1,530 lb)[2] | ||||||||||
Landing mass | 358 kg (789 lb) | ||||||||||
Dimensions | 6.0 × 1.56 × 1.0 m (19.7 × 5.1 × 3.3 ft) (deployed)[3] | ||||||||||
Power | 600 watts | ||||||||||
Start of mission | |||||||||||
Launch date | 5 May 2018, 11:05:01 UTC | ||||||||||
Rocket | Atlas V 401[4] AV-078 | ||||||||||
Launch site | Vandenberg, SLC-3E | ||||||||||
Contractor | United Launch Alliance | ||||||||||
Entered service | 26 November 2018 | ||||||||||
End of mission | |||||||||||
Disposal | Decommissioned | ||||||||||
Declared | 21 December 2022 | ||||||||||
Last contact | 15 December 2022 (official)[5][6] | ||||||||||
Mars lander | |||||||||||
Landing date | 26 November 2018, 19:52:59 UTC[1] MSD 51511 05:14 AMT | ||||||||||
Landing site | Elysium Planitia[7][8] 4°30′09″N 135°37′24″E / 4.5024°N 135.6234°E[9] | ||||||||||
Flyby of Mars | |||||||||||
Spacecraft component | Mars Cube One (MarCO) | ||||||||||
Closest approach | 26 November 2018, 19:52:59 UTC[1] | ||||||||||
Distance | 3,500 km (2,200 mi)[10] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
![]() InSight mission logo |
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight)[1] mission was a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars.[1][11][12] It was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space, was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),[13] and two of its three scientific instruments were built by European agencies.[14] The mission launched on 5 May 2018 at 11:05:01 UTC aboard an Atlas V-401 launch vehicle[15] and successfully landed[16] at Elysium Planitia on Mars on 26 November 2018 at 19:52:59 UTC.[17][18][15][19] InSight was active on Mars for 1440 sols (1480 days; 4 years, 19 days).
InSight's objectives were to place a seismometer, called Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), on the surface of Mars to measure seismic activity and provide accurate 3D models of the planet's interior; and measure internal heat transfer using a heat probe called HP3 to study Mars' early geological evolution.[20] This was intended to provide a new understanding of how the Solar System's terrestrial planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars – and Earth's Moon formed and evolved.
The lander was originally planned for launch in March 2016.[12][21] An instrument problem delayed the launch beyond the 2016 launch window. NASA officials rescheduled the InSight launch to May 2018[22] and during the wait the instrument was repaired. This increased the total cost from US$675 million to US$830 million.[23][24]
InSight successfully landed on Mars on 26 November 2018. Due to excessive dust on its solar panels preventing it from recharging, NASA put InSight in low-power mode for detecting seismic events in July 2022 and continued monitoring the lander through the operational period ending in December 2022.[25][26] On 20 December 2022, NASA announced that the InSight lander had lost communications with Earth on 15 December 2022, with the end of the mission being declared on 21 December 2022.[5][6][27]
History
Discovery Program selection
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/PIA19666-MarsInSightLander-Assembly-20150429.jpg/220px-PIA19666-MarsInSightLander-Assembly-20150429.jpg)
InSight was initially known as GEMS (Geophysical Monitoring Station), but its name was changed in early 2012 following a request by NASA.[28] Out of 28 proposals from 2010,[29] it was one of the three Discovery Program finalists receiving $3 million in May 2011 to develop a detailed concept study.[30] In August 2012, InSight was selected for development and launch.[12] Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with participation from scientists from several countries, the mission was cost-capped at US$425 million, not including launch vehicle funding.[31]
By reusing the landing system designed for the Mars Phoenix lander, which successfully landed on Mars in 2008, mission costs and risks were reduced.[32]
Schedule issues
Lockheed Martin began construction of the lander on 19 May 2014,[33] with general testing starting on 27 May 2015.[34]
A persistent vacuum leak in the CNES-supplied seismometer known as the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) led NASA to postpone the planned launch in March 2016 to May 2018. When InSight was delayed, the rest of the spacecraft was returned to Lockheed Martin's factory in Colorado for storage, and the Atlas V launch vehicle intended to launch the spacecraft was reassigned to the WorldView-4 mission.[35]
On 9 March 2016, NASA officials announced that InSight would be delayed until the 2018 launch window at an estimated cost of US$150 million.[22][36] The spacecraft was rescheduled to launch on 5 May 2018 for a Mars landing on 26 November 2018 at 20:00 UTC. The flight plan remained unchanged with launch using an Atlas V launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.[22][36] NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was tasked with redesigning and building a new vacuum enclosure for the SEIS instrument, while CNES conducted instrument integration and testing.[37][38]
On 22 November 2017, InSight completed testing in a thermal vacuum, also known as TVAC testing, where the spacecraft is put in simulated space conditions with reduced pressure and various thermal loads.[39] On 23 January 2018, after a long storage, its solar panels were once again deployed and tested, and a second silicon chip containing 1.6 million names from the public was added to the lander.[40]
Effects of Martian dust and end of operations
The InSight lander, powered by solar panels and batteries, relies on periodic wind gusts called "cleaning events" to reduce dust accumulation on the panels. Elysium Planitia, the landing site of InSight, has experienced fewer cleaning events than needed to keep the science operations powered. In February 2021, at the start of the Martian winter, InSight's solar cells were producing 27% of capacity due to a thick covering of dust on the panels. At that time NASA began the process of putting the lander into hibernation mode, shutting down data-gathering instruments on a schedule to conserve enough power to keep the lander electronics warm through the Martian winter. NASA had hoped that weather conditions would improve and allow InSight to store enough energy to come out of hibernation in July 2021.[41] In May 2021, some generation capacity was restored by using the arm to position sand so it could blow onto the solar panels and scour them clean.[42]
NASA determined in May 2022 that there was too much dust on the panels to continue the mission. InSight was generating only one-tenth of the power from the sunlight than it did upon arrival.[26] They put the lander in a low-power mode in July 2022 to continue monitoring for seismic events. NASA continued to monitor InSight until the end of 2022, when the spacecraft missed two consecutive communication attempts.[27]
Science background
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Apollo-PSE.jpg/170px-Apollo-PSE.jpg)
Seismic vibrations
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/PIA25282-MarsInSightLander-InsideMars-20220517.jpg/250px-PIA25282-MarsInSightLander-InsideMars-20220517.jpg)
Mars InSight Lander (17 May 2022)
Both Viking spacecraft carried seismometers mounted on their landers, and in 1976 vibrations were picked up from various lander operations and from the wind.[43] However, the Viking 1 lander's seismometer did not deploy properly and did not unlock; the locked seismometer could not operate.
The Viking 2 seismometer unlocked; it operated and returned data to Earth.[44][45] One problem was accounting for other data. On Sol 80, the Viking 2 seismometer detected an event.[45] No wind data were recorded at the same time, so it was not possible to determine whether the data indicated a seismic event or wind gust. Other lacking data would have been useful to rule out other sources of vibrations.[45] Two other problems were the location of the lander and that a certain level of wind on Mars caused a loss of sensitivity for the Viking 2 seismometer.[45] To overcome these and other issues, InSight had many other sensors, was placed directly on the surface, and also had a windshield.
Despite the difficulties, the Viking 2 seismometer readings were used to estimate a Martian geological crust thickness between 14 and 18 km (8.7 and 11.2 mi) at the Viking 2 lander site.[46] The Viking 2 seismometer did detect vibrations from Mars winds complementing the meteorology results.[46][47] There was the aforementioned candidate for a possible marsquake, but it was not particularly definitive. The wind data did prove useful in its own right, and despite the limitations of the data, widespread and large marsquakes were not detected.[48]
Seismometers were also left on the Moon, starting with Apollo 11 in 1969, and also by Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 missions and provided many insights into lunar seismology, including the discovery of moonquakes.[49][50] The Apollo seismic network, which was operated until 1977, detected at least 28 moonquakes up to 5.5 on the Richter scale.[51]
One of the aspects of the InSight mission was to compare the Earth, Moon, and Mars seismic data.[52]
Well, seismic investigation is really the heart of this mission. Seismology is the method that we've used to gain almost everything we know, all the basic information about the interior of the Earth, and we also used it back during the Apollo era to understand and to measure sort of the properties of the inside of the moon. And so, we want to apply the same techniques but use the waves that are generated by Mars quakes, by meteorite impacts to probe deep into the interior of Mars all the way down to its core.
— Gravity Assist: Mars and InSight with Bruce Banerdt (3 May 2018)[52]
On 4 May 2022, a large marsquake, estimated at magnitude 5, was detected by the seismometer on the InSight lander.[53]
On 25 October 2023, scientists, helped by information from InSight, reported that the planet Mars has a radioactive magma ocean under its crust.[54]
Planetary precession
Radio Doppler measurements were taken with Viking and twenty years later with Mars Pathfinder, and in each case the axis of rotation of Mars was estimated. By combining this data, the core size was constrained, because the change in axis of rotation over 20 years allowed a precession rate and from that the planet's moment of inertia to be estimated.[55] InSight's measurements of crust thickness, mantle viscosity, core radius and density, and seismic activity were planned to result in a three- to tenfold increase in accuracy compared to previous data.[56]
Objectives
The InSight mission placed a single stationary lander on Mars to study its deep interior and address a fundamental issue of planetary and Solar System science: understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner Solar System (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.[1]
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Terrestrial_Planet_Interiors_%28Earth%2C_Mars_and_Moon%29_-_Artist%27s_Concept.jpg/220px-Terrestrial_Planet_Interiors_%28Earth%2C_Mars_and_Moon%29_-_Artist%27s_Concept.jpg)
InSight's primary objective was to study the earliest evolutionary processes that shaped Mars. By studying the size, thickness, density and overall structure of Mars' core, mantle and crust, as well as the rate at which heat escapes from the planet's interior, InSight will provide a glimpse into the evolutionary processes of all of the rocky planets in the inner Solar System.[57][1] The rocky inner planets share a common ancestry that begins with accretion. As the body increases in size, its interior heats up and evolves to become a terrestrial planet, containing a core, mantle and crust.[1] Despite this common ancestry, each of the terrestrial planets is later shaped and molded through the poorly understood process of differentiation. InSight mission's goal was to improve the understanding of this process and, by extension, terrestrial evolution, by measuring the planetary building blocks shaped by this differentiation: a terrestrial planet's core, mantle and crust.[1]
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/PIA22745-Mars-InSightLander-ArtistConcept-20181030.jpg/220px-PIA22745-Mars-InSightLander-ArtistConcept-20181030.jpg)
The mission will determine if there is any seismic activity, measure the rate of heat flow from the interior, estimate the size of Mars' core and whether the core is liquid or solid.[58] This data would be the first of its kind for Mars.[56] It is also expected that frequent meteor airbursts (10–200 detectable events per year for InSight) will provide additional seismo-acoustic signals to probe the interior of Mars.[59] The mission's secondary objective was to conduct an in-depth study of geophysics, tectonic activity and the effect of meteorite impacts on Mars, which could provide knowledge about such processes on Earth. Measurements of crust thickness, mantle viscosity, core radius and density, and seismic activity should result in a three- to tenfold increase in accuracy compared to current data.[56] This is the first time a robotic lander dug this deep into the martian crust.
In terms of fundamental processes shaping planetary formation, it is thought that Mars contains the most in-depth and accurate historical record, because it is big enough to have undergone the earliest accretion and internal heating processes that shaped the terrestrial planets, but is small enough to have retained signs of those processes. The science phase is expected to last for two years.[1]
In March 2021, NASA reported, based on measurements of over 500 Marsquakes by the InSight lander on the planet Mars, that the core of Mars is between 1,810 and 1,860 km (1,120 and 1,160 mi), about half the size of the core of Earth, and significantly smaller than thought earlier, suggesting a core of lighter elements.[60]
Design
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/InSight_spacecraft_model.png/220px-InSight_spacecraft_model.png)
The mission further develops a design based on the 2008 Phoenix Mars lander.[61] Because InSight is powered by solar panels, it landed near the equator to enable maximum power for a projected lifetime of two years (1 Martian year).[1] The mission includes two relay microsatellites called Mars Cube One (MarCO) that launched with InSight but were flying in formation with InSight to Mars.[62]
Three major aspects to the InSight spacecraft are the cruise stage, the entry, descent, and landing system, and the lander.[1]
Overall specifications
- Mass
- Total mass during cruise: 694 kg (1,530 lb)[2]
- Relay probes flew separately but they weighed 13.5 kg (30 lb) each (there were 2)[2]
Lander specifications
- Lander mass: 358 kg (789 lb)[2] including about 50 kg of science payload.
- Mars weight (0.376 of Earth's):[63] 1,320 N (300 lbf)
- About 6.0 m (19.7 ft) wide with solar panels deployed.[2]
- The science deck is about 1.56 m (5.1 ft) wide and between 0.83 and 1.08 m (2.7 and 3.5 ft) high (depending on leg compression after landing).[2]
- The length of the robotic arm is 1.8 m (5.9 ft)[2]
- Tilt of lander at landing on Mars: 4°[64]
Power
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/PIA22835-MarsProbes-SingleSolGeneratedEnergy-20181130-corrected.png/220px-PIA22835-MarsProbes-SingleSolGeneratedEnergy-20181130-corrected.png)
Power is generated by two round solar panels, each 2.15 m (7.1 ft) in diameter when unfurled, and consisting of SolAero ZTJ triple-junction solar cells made of InGaP/InGaAs/Ge arranged on Orbital ATK UltraFlex arrays. After touchdown on the Martian surface, the arrays are deployed by opening like a folding fan.[65][66]
Payload
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/PIA17358-MarsInSightLander-20140326.jpg/220px-PIA17358-MarsInSightLander-20140326.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/HP3_burrowing_mechanism.gif/220px-HP3_burrowing_mechanism.gif)
InSight's lander payload had a total mass of 50 kg (110 lb), including science instruments and support systems such as the Auxiliary Payload Sensor Suite, cameras, the instrument deployment system, and a laser retroreflector.[2]
InSight performed three major experiments using SEIS, HP3 and RISE.[69] SEIS is a very sensitive seismometer, measuring vibrations; HP3 involves a burrowing probe to measure the thermal properties of the subsurface.[69] RISE uses the radio communication equipment on the lander and on Earth to measure the overall movement of planet Mars that could reveal the size and density of its core.
- The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) measured marsquakes and other internal activity on Mars, and the response to meteorite impacts, to better understand the planet's history and structure.[70][71][72] SEIS was provided by the French Space Agency (CNES), with the participation of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Imperial College, Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE) and JPL.[73][74] The seismometer can also detect sources including atmospheric waves and tidal forces from Mars' moon Phobos.[57][75] A leak in SEIS in 2016 had forced a two-year mission postponement.[37]The SEIS instrument is supported by meteorological tools including a vector magnetometer provided by UCLA that measures magnetic disturbances, air temperature, wind speed and wind direction sensors based on the Spanish/Finnish Rover Environmental Monitoring Station; and a barometer from JPL.[76][55]
- The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) included a radiometer and a heat flow probe.[75][61][77][78] The probe, referred to as a "self-hammering nail" and nicknamed "the mole", was designed to burrow 5 m (16 ft) below the Martian surface while trailing a tether, with embedded heat sensors to study the thermal properties of Mars' interior, and thus reveal unique information about the planet's geologic history.[75][61][77][78] The hammering mechanism inside the mole was designed by the Polish company Astronika and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences under contract and in cooperation with DLR.[79] The tether contains precise temperature sensors every 10 cm (3.9 in) to measure the temperature profile of the subsurface.[75][80]
- The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was a radio science experiment that uses the lander's X band radio to provide precise measurements of planetary rotation to better understand the interior of Mars.[81] X band radio tracking, capable of an accuracy under 2 cm (0.79 in), builds on previous Viking program and Mars Pathfinder data.[75] The previous data allowed the core size to be estimated, but with more data from InSight, the nutation amplitude can be determined.[75] Once spin axis direction, precession, and nutation amplitudes are better understood, it should be possible to calculate the size and density of the Martian core and mantle.[75] This should increase the understanding of the formation of terrestrial planets (e.g. Earth) and rocky exoplanets.[75]
- Temperature and Winds for InSight (TWINS), fabricated by the Spanish Astrobiology Center, monitors weather at the landing site.[56][76]
- Laser RetroReflector for InSight (LaRRI) is a corner cube retroreflector provided by the Italian Space Agency and mounted on InSight's top deck.[82][83] It enables passive laser range-finding by orbiters after the lander is retired,[84] and will function as a node in a proposed Mars geophysical network.[85] This device previously flew on the Schiaparelli lander as the Instrument for Landing-Roving Laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI), and is an aluminum dome 54 mm (2.1 in) in diameter and 25 g (0.9 oz) in mass featuring eight fused silica reflectors.[84]
- Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA) is a 1.8 m (5.9 ft) robotic arm that deployed the SEIS, wind and thermal shield, and HP3 instruments to Mars' surface.[1] It is a 4 DOF motorized manipulator, constructed from carbon-fiber composite tubes. Originally intended for the canceled Mars Surveyor mission, the IDA features a scoop, wax actuated grappling claw, and the IDC camera.[86][87]
- The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) is a color camera based on the Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory navcam design. It is mounted on the Instrument Deployment Arm and images the instruments on the lander's deck and provides stereoscopic views of the terrain surrounding the landing site. It features a 45° field of view and uses a 1024 × 1024 pixel CCD detector.[88] The IDC sensor was originally black and white for best resolution; a program was enacted that tested with a standard Hazcam and, since development deadlines and budgets were met, it was replaced with a color sensor.[89]
- The Instrument Context Camera (ICC) is a color camera based on the MER/MSL Hazcam design. It is mounted below the lander's deck, and with its wide-angle 120° panoramic field of view provides a complementary view of the instrument deployment area. Like the IDC, it uses a 1024 × 1024 pixel CCD detector.[88]
The two relay 6U cubesats were part of the overall InSight program, and were launched at the same time as the lander but they were attached to the centaur upper stage (InSight's second stage in the launch). They were ejected from the stage after launch and coasted to Mars independent of the main InSight cruise stage with the lander.[90]
Twin Lander
JPL also built a full-scale engineering model, named ForeSight. This was used to practice instrument deployment, trial new ways to deploy the HP3 instrument, and test methods to reduce seismometer noise.[91]
With the mission now ended, the testbed is being scrapped and its parts will be offered to other teams such as the Mars Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) for the Mars Sample Return campaign at JPL to be repurposed for their own needs. Anything that is not needed will go into storage. As of now, no attempt is planned to be undertaken to restore ForeSight or to send it to a museum.[92]
Journey to Mars
Launch
On 28 February 2018, InSight was shipped via C-17 cargo aircraft from the Lockheed Martin Space building in Denver to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in order to be integrated to the launch vehicle.[93] The lander was launched on 5 May 2018 and arrived on Mars at approximately 19:54 UTC on 26 November 2018.
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Despegue_de_InSight_%28VAFB-20180505-PH_JBS01_0012%29.jpg/220px-Despegue_de_InSight_%28VAFB-20180505-PH_JBS01_0012%29.jpg)
The spacecraft was launched on 5 May 2018 at 11:05 UTC on an Atlas V 401 launch vehicle (AV-078) from Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 3-East.[15] This was the first American interplanetary mission to launch from California.[94]
The launch was managed by NASA's Launch Services Program. InSight was originally scheduled for launch on 4 March 2016 on an Atlas V 401 (4 meter fairing/zero (0) solid rocket boosters/single (1) engine Centaur) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, U.S.,[94] but was called off in December 2015 due to a vacuum leak on the SEIS instrument.[95][96][97] The rescheduled launch window ran from 5 May to 8 June 2018.
Major components of the launch vehicle include:
- Common Core Booster
- This launch did not use additional solid rocket boosters
- Centaur with Relay CubeSats
- InSight in a Payload fairing
The journey to Mars took 6.5 months across 484 million km (301 million mi) for a touchdown on 26 November.[15][19] After a successful landing, a three-month-long deployment phase commenced as part of its two-year (a little more than one Martian year) prime mission.[98][99]
Cruise
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Animation_of_InSight_trajectory.gif/220px-Animation_of_InSight_trajectory.gif)
InSight · Earth · Mars
After its launch from Earth on 5 May in 2018, it coasted through interplanetary space for 6.5 months traveling across 484 million km (301 million mi) for a touchdown on 26 November in that year.[15][19]
InSight cruise stage departed Earth at a speed of 10,000 kilometres per hour (6,200 mph).[1] The MarCo probes were ejected from the 2nd stage Centaur booster and traveled to Mars independent of the InSight cruise stage, but they were all launched together.[citation needed]
During the cruise to Mars, the InSight cruise stage made several course adjustments, and the first of these (TCM-1) took place on 22 May 2018.[1] The cruise stage that carries the lander includes solar panels, antenna, star trackers, Sun sensor, inertial measurement unit among its technologies.[1] The thrusters are actually on the InSight lander itself, but there are cutouts in the shell so the relevant rockets can vent into space.[2]
The final course correction was 25 November 2018, the day before its touch down.[100] A few hours before making contact with the Martian atmosphere, the cruise stage was jettisoned, on 26 November 2018.[100]
Entry, descent, and landing
On 26 November 2018, at approximately 19:53 UTC, mission controllers received a signal via the Mars Cube One (MarCO) satellites that the spacecraft had successfully touched down[16] at Elysium Planitia.[15][17][19] After landing, the mission took three months to deploy and commission the geophysical science instruments.[98][99] It then began its mission of observing Mars, which was planned to last for two years.[1]
The spacecraft's mass that entered the atmosphere of Mars was 1,340 lb (608 kg).[101] There were three major stages to InSight's landing:[101]
- Entry: after separating from the cruise stage the aeroshell enters the atmosphere and is subject to air and dust in the Martian atmosphere.
- Parachute descent: at a certain speed and altitude a parachute is deployed to slow the lander further.
- Rocket descent: closer to the ground the parachute is ejected and the lander uses rocket engines to slow the lander before touchdown.
Landing sequence:[100]
- 25 November 2018, final course correction before EDL.
- 26 November 2018, Cruise stage jettisoned before entering the atmosphere.
- Several minutes later, the aeroshell containing the lander makes contact with the upper Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph (19,800 km/h).
- At this point it is 80 miles (130 km) above Mars and in the next few minutes it lands, but undergoes many stages.[101]
- Aeroshell is heated to 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) during descent.
- At 385 m/s (1,260 ft/s) and ~11,100 m (36,400 ft) above the surface, the parachute is deployed.
- Several seconds later, the heat shield is jettisoned from the lander.
- The landing legs extended.
- Landing radar activated.
- Backshell jettisoned at a speed of about 60 m/s (200 ft/s) and at 1,100 m (3,600 ft) altitude.
- Landing rockets turned on.
- Roughly 50 m (160 ft) from the ground constant velocity mode is entered.
- Approaches ground at about 5 mph (8.0 km/h).
- Touchdown—each of the three lander legs have a sensor to detect ground contact.
- Descent rockets are turned off at touchdown.
- Begin surface operations.
The lander's mass is about 358 kg (789 lb)[2] but on Mars, which has 0.376 of Earth's[63] gravity, it only weighs the equivalent of a 135 kg (298 lb) object on Earth.
26 November 2018 (Touch down-day // Sol 0)
On 26 November 2018, InSight successfully touched down in Elysium Planitia.[16]
A few hours after landing, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed signals indicating that InSight's solar panels had successfully unfurled and are generating enough electrical power to recharge its batteries daily. Odyssey also relayed a pair of images showing InSight's landing site.[102] More images were acquired in stereo pairs to create 3D images, allowing InSight to find the best locations on the surface to place the heat probe and seismometer. Over the next few weeks, InSight checked health indicators and monitor both weather and temperature conditions at the landing site.[98]
Landing site
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/PIA23376-Mars-InSightLander-MRO-View-20190923.jpg/750px-PIA23376-Mars-InSightLander-MRO-View-20190923.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/PIA23140-Mars-InsightLander-Panorama-12092018.jpg/750px-PIA23140-Mars-InsightLander-Panorama-12092018.jpg)
(13 December 2018)
As InSight's science goals are not related to any particular surface feature of Mars, potential landing sites were chosen on the basis of practicality. Candidate sites needed to be near the equator of Mars to provide sufficient sunlight for the solar panels year round, have a low elevation to allow for sufficient atmospheric braking during EDL, be flat and relatively rock-free to reduce the probability of complications during landing, and have soft enough terrain to allow the heat flow probe to penetrate well into the ground.[citation needed]
An optimal area that meets all these requirements is Elysium Planitia, so all 22 initial potential landing sites were located in this area.[103] The only two other areas on the equator and at low elevation, Isidis Planitia and Valles Marineris, are too rocky. In addition, Valles Marineris has too steep a gradient to allow safe landing.[7]
In September 2013, the initial 22 potential landing sites were narrowed down to four, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was then used to gain more information on each of the four potential sites before a final decision was made.[7][104] Each site consists of a landing ellipse that measures about 130 by 27 km (81 by 17 mi).[105]
In March 2017, scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that the landing site had been selected. It is located in western Elysium Planitia at 4°30′N 135°54′E / 4.5°N 135.9°E.[106] The landing site is about 600 km (370 mi) north from where the Curiosity rover is operating in Gale Crater.[107]
On 26 November 2018, the spacecraft successfully touched down at its landing site,[16] and in early December 2018 InSight lander and EDL components were imaged from space on the surface of Mars.[108] The images provided precise position of the lander: 4°30′09″N 135°37′24″E / 4.5024°N 135.6234°E.[9]
Surface operations
On 26 November 2018, NASA reported that the InSight lander had landed successfully on Mars. The meteorological suite (TWINS) and magnetometer were operational, and the mission took approximately three months to deploy and commission the geophysical science instruments.[98][99] After landing, the dust was allowed to settle for a few hours, during which time the solar array motors were warmed up and then the solar panels were unfurled.[109][68][98] The lander then reported its systems' status, acquired some images, and it powered down to sleep mode for its first night on Mars. On its first sol on Mars it set a new solar power record of 4.6 kilowatt-hours generated for a single Martian day (known as a "sol").[68] This amount is enough to support operations and deploy the sensors.[110]
On 7 December 2018, InSight recorded the sounds of Martian winds with SEIS, which is able to record vibrations within human hearing range, although rather low (aka subwoofer-type sounds), and these were sent back to Earth.[112] This was the first time the sound of Mars wind was heard[112] after two previous attempts.[113]
On 19 December 2018, the SEIS instrument was deployed onto the surface of Mars next to the lander by its robotic arm,[111] and it was commissioned on 4 February 2019.[114] After the seismometer became fully operational, the heat probe instrument was deployed on 12 February 2019.[115][116]
In April 2019, NASA reported that the Mars InSight lander detected its first marsquake.[117][118]
In September 2019, researchers reported that InSight uncovered unexplained magnetic pulses, and magnetic oscillations.[119]
On 24 February 2020, a summary of studies over the past year from InSight was presented which indicated that the planet Mars has active quakes, dust devils and magnetic pulses.[120][121]
(video; 0:08; 22 May 2021)
In February 2020, according to new data gathered from NASA's InSight lander, it was found that the Martian magnetic field at the landing site is about 10 times stronger than previously thought, and fluctuates rapidly.[122][123]
In early 2021, the InSight team announced they would attempt to detect the arrival of the Mars 2020 mission using InSight's seismometers. Pre-landing modeling of the signals from Mars 2020's entry, descent and landing sequence suggested that the most probable source of any potential signal would be the impact of the spacecraft's cruise mass balance devices with the Martian surface, at speeds of around 4000 m/s.[124][125] Shortly after successfully landing the Perseverance Rover, NASA announced that its landing went undetected by InSight. This helped demonstrate that Mars has a seismic efficiency of less than 3%.[126]
On 12 April 2021, it was reported that Insight went into emergency hibernation because its solar panels were filled with Martian dust.[127]
On 14 April, the lander began to transmit images after waking from hibernation.[128]
On 3 May 2021, InSight used its robotic arm to trickle sand beside a solar panel. The InSight team wanted to let the sand blow away and touch the solar panels, sticking some dust particles to it, before leaving the solar panel. The sand trickle resulted in a boost in power of 30 watt-hours per sol.[129]
In July 2021 three papers studying Mars' interior structure were published. Seismometer data confirms that the center of Mars is molten. The crust of Mars is thinner than expected and may have two or three sub-layers.[130]
In January 2022, InSight went into safe mode due to a regional dust storm in the area, which caused a reduction in sunlight. During its time in safe mode, all but essential functions were suspended. It left safe mode on 19 January 2022 and resumed normal operations, however all science instruments were left off in the mean time.[131]
As of May 2022, Insight has recorded 1,313 marsquakes.[53]
The seismometer (SEIS), radio experiment (RISE) and the weather instruments (TWINS) continue to operate as the lander's Mars surface mission was extended by two years, until end of December 2022.[132] The reason the mission was retired was due to insufficient power generation on the solar panels, due to dust accumulation. [27]
In August 2024, a reservoir of liquid water was discovered on Mars - deep in the rocky outer crust of the planet. The findings came from a new analysis of seismometer data, which recorded four years' of vibrations - Mars quakes - from deep inside the Red Planet.[133][134]
Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package
On 28 February 2019, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package probe (mole) started digging into the surface of Mars. The probe and its digging mole were intended to reach a maximum depth of 5 m (16 ft) but it only went about 0.35 m (1.1 ft), or three-quarters of the way out of its housing structure. After many attempts, the effort was given up as a failure in January 2021.
In October 2019, the researchers at JPL concluded that the soil on Mars does not provide necessary friction for drilling, causing the mole to bounce around and form a wide pit around itself rather than dig deeper. They attempted a maneuver called pinning in which they pressed the side of the scoop against the mole location to pin the side of the wall of the hole and increase friction.[135] Pinning was initially successful,[136] but then the mole backed out of its hole after a few weeks, suggesting the soil is accumulating below the mole.[137][138]
In February 2020, the team reevaluated the risks of pushing the scoop directly against the back cap of the mole, and determined the procedure to be acceptable.[139]
In June 2020, the team reported that the mole was finally underground, and was being evaluated to determine if the mole was able to dig as designed.[140] On 9 July 2020, it was revealed that images taken on 20 June 2020 showed the mole bouncing again, indicating that it did not have sufficient friction to dig deeper. One suggested solution was to partially fill the hole with soil to increase friction.[141]
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/PIA24263-MarsInsightLander-Mole-FinalEfforts-20210109.gif/300px-PIA24263-MarsInsightLander-Mole-FinalEfforts-20210109.gif)
(9 January 2021)
By August 2020, the operations team had made some progress using the scoop to assist the mole in digging deeper into its hole, by pressing against the back. The scoop was used to fill the hole of the partially submerged mole, burying it fully for the first time. The team hoped the mole can now dig further into the surface on its own, possibly with the additional assistance of the scoop.[142]
On 14 January 2021, the heat probe part of the mission was declared to be over, after the science team had determined that the soil properties at the landing location were incompatible with what the instrument had been designed for. The team attempted many different remedies over nearly two years to get the mole to burrow into the soil, but in the end, the attempts did not succeed. The friction between the soil and the probe was not enough for the mole to hammer itself down through the soil. Another set of attempts to get the probe deeper took place on 9 January 2021. After they proved unsuccessful, the decision was made to leave the probe as is and end attempts to dig deeper.
The mole did, with all the assisting measures, burrow itself completely underground. The top of the mole is 2 to 3 centimetres below the Martian surface. To be able to produce the intended scientific measurements, the mole needed to have dug itself at least 3 metres deep. Thus the mole was unsuccessful at producing its intended scientific results.
However the mole's operations did produce useful and interesting results about the soil at the InSight site; about conducting excavation, or drilling, on Mars; and about operating the lander's robotic arm through the mole-rescue efforts that used the arm in ways that were unplanned before the mission.[132]
MarCO spacecraft
The Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft are a pair of 6U CubeSats that piggybacked with the InSight mission to test CubeSat navigation and endurance in deep space, and to help relay real-time communications (with an eight-minute lightspeed delay)[99] during the probe's entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase.[143][144] The two 6U CubeSats, named MarCO A and B, are identical.[145] They were launched along with InSight, but separated soon after reaching space,[146] and they flew as a pair for redundancy while flanking the lander.[62] They did not enter orbit, but flew past Mars during the EDL phase of the mission and relayed InSight's telemetry in real time.[147][148] The success of the MarCO spacecraft proved the viability of the cubesat platform for deep space missions and helped serve as a technical demonstration for potential future missions of a similar nature. On 5 February 2019, NASA reported that the CubeSats went silent, and are unlikely to be heard from again.[149]
- Mass: 13.5 kg (30 lb) each.[2]
- Dimensions: 30 cm × 20 cm × 10 cm (11.8 in × 7.9 in × 3.9 in) each
- Each has a reflectarray high gain antenna
- Miniaturized radio operating in UHF (receive only) and X-band (receive and transmit).[62]
- They carry a miniature wide-angle camera.[150]
- Cold gas thrusters for attitude adjustments.[151]
- Star tracker for navigation.[152]
Team and participation
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/NASA-TeamCheers-InSight-LandsOnThePlanetMars-20181126.jpg/220px-NASA-TeamCheers-InSight-LandsOnThePlanetMars-20181126.jpg)
The InSight science and engineering team includes scientists and engineers from many disciplines, countries and organizations. The science team assigned to InSight includes scientists from institutions in the U.S., France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom.[153]
Mars Exploration Rover project scientist W. Bruce Banerdt is the principal investigator for the InSight mission and the lead scientist for the SEIS instrument.[154] Suzanne Smrekar, whose research focuses on the thermal evolution of planets and who has done extensive testing and development on instruments designed to measure the thermal properties and heat flow on other planets,[155] is the lead for InSight's HP3 instrument. The Principal Investigator for RISE is William Folkner at JPL.[2] The SEIS Instrument PI is Philippe Lognonné of IPGP, and the HP3 Instrument PI is Tilman Spohn of the DLR Institute of Planetary Research. The InSight mission team also includes project manager Tom Hoffman and deputy project manager Henry Stone.[153]
Major contributing agencies and institutions are:[83]
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)
- German Aerospace Center (DLR)
- Italian Space Agency (ASI)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL)
- Lockheed Martin
- Paris Institute of Earth Physics (IPGP)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ)
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS)
- Imperial College London
- Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE-SUPAERO)
- University of Oxford
- Spanish Astrobiology Center (CAB)
- Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Insight_team_at_jpl-br2_%281%29.jpg/550px-Insight_team_at_jpl-br2_%281%29.jpg)
Name chips
As part of its public outreach, NASA organized a program where members of the public were able to have their names sent to Mars aboard InSight. Due to its launch delay, two rounds of sign-ups were conducted totaling 2.4 million names:[156][157] 826,923 names were registered in 2015[158] and a further 1.6 million names were added in 2017.[159] An electron beam was used to etch letters only 1⁄1000 the width of a human hair (1 μm)[160] onto 8 mm (0.3 in) silicon wafers.[158] The first chip was installed on the lander in November 2015 and the second on 23 January 2018.[158][159]
Gallery
-
InSight lander loaded on a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III (December 2015)
-
InSight landing zone target with other NASA landing zones
-
Global view of Mars. InSight landed in Elysium Plantia. Curiosity rover is in Gale crater.
-
Entry, Descent, and Landing sequence for InSight
-
Actor Brad Pitt visits the InSight test "sandbox" (September 2019).
-
"Rolling Stones Rock"
a result from the landing
(November 2018)
Context map
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "InSight Lander - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. NASA. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Mars InSight Launch Press Kit" (PDF). NASA / JPL. May 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "InSight: Lithograph" (PDF). NASA. July 2015. LG-2015-07-072-HQ. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Stephen Clark (19 December 2013). "Mars lander to launch from California on Atlas 5 in 2016". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ a b Kenneth Chang (22 December 2022). "NASA's InSight Mission Dies After 4 Years of Listening for Marsquakes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ a b Dacia Massengill (20 December 2022). "Saying 'Farewell' to InSight Mars Lander". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ a b c Guy Webster; Dwayne C. Brown (4 September 2013). "NASA Evaluates Four Candidate Sites for 2016 Mars Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Guy Webster (4 March 2015). "Single Site on Mars Advanced for 2016 NASA Lander". insight.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b T. J. Parker; M. P. Golombek; F. J. Calef; N. R. Williams; S. LeMaistre; et al. (March 2019). "Localization of the InSight Lander" (PDF). 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Held 18–22 March 2019 at the Woodlands, Texas. LPI Contribution No. 2132, Id.1948 (2132): 1948. Bibcode:2019LPI....50.1948P. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ Van Kane (8 July 2015). "MarCO: Planetary CubeSats Become Real". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020.
- ^ Kenneth Chang (30 April 2018). "Mars InSight: NASA's Journey into the Red Planet's Deepest Mysteries". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ a b c Brian Vastag (20 August 2012). "NASA will send robot drill to Mars in 2016". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ "InSight". Lockheed Martin. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "European Contributions to the InSight mission to Mars". europlanet-society.org. Europlanet Society. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Kenneth Chang (5 May 2018). "NASA's InSight Launches for Six-Month Journey to Mars". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Opinion: Mars Beckons". The New York Times. 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ a b Kenneth Chang (26 November 2018). "NASA's InSight Mission Has Touched Down on Mars to Study the Red Planet's Deep Secrets". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ Adam Gabbatt (26 November 2018). "InSight lander touches down on Mars – as it happened". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d "About InSight's Launch". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "What are InSight's Science Tools?". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Leonard David (14 November 2017). "NASA's Next Mars Lander Zooms toward Launch". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Stephen Clark (9 March 2016). "InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ Guy Webster; Dwayne Brown; Laurie Cantillo (2 September 2016). "NASA Approves 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Robert Lee Hotz (26 November 2018). "NASA's InSight Spacecraft Lands Safely on Mars". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Tricia Talbert (8 January 2021). "NASA Extends Exploration for Two Planetary Science Missions". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b "Dusty demise for NASA Mars lander in July, power dwindling". NBC News. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Beth Ridgeway. "NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Jason Wells (28 February 2012). "JPL changes name of Mars mission proposal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ "New NASA Mission To take First Look Deep Inside Mars". science.nasa.gov. NASA. 20 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ Dwayne C. Brown (5 May 2011). "NASA Selects Investigations For Future Key Planetary Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Kate Taylor (9 May 2011). "NASA picks project shortlist for next Discovery mission". TG Daily. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ Lee Cavendish (25 November 2018). "Journey to the Center of the Red Planet: NASA's InSight Lander to Reveal the Secrets Inside Mars". Space.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Guy Webster; Dwayne C. Brown; Gary Napier (19 May 2014). "Construction to Begin on 2016 NASA Mars Lander". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ Guy Webster; Dwayne C. Brown (27 May 2015). "NASA Begins Testing Mars Lander for Next Mission to Red Planet". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ Stephen Clark (5 March 2016). "Fate of NASA's InSight Mars mission to be decided soon". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ a b Kenneth Chang (9 March 2016). "NASA Reschedules Mars InSight Mission for May 2018". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ a b Jeff Foust (28 March 2016). "InSight's Second Chance". The Space Review. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "NASA Targets May 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ Chris Bergin (22 November 2017). "Mars InSight mission passes TVAC testing ahead of 2018 launch". NASASpaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ Andrew Good (23 January 2018). "NASA's Next Mars Lander Spreads its Solar Wings". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ Morgan McFall-Johnsen (15 April 2021). "NASA's Insight Mars Lander Is 'in Crisis', And Has Entered Emergency Hibernation". Science Alert. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
- ^ Mike Wehner (4 June 2021). "NASA's InSight Mars lander dumped dirt on itself on purpose". BGR. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ D. L. Anderson; W. F. Miller; G. V. Latham; Y. Nakamura; M. N. Toksöz; et al. (30 September 1977). "Signatures of Internally Generated Lander Vibrations" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 82 (28): 4524–4546, A–2. Bibcode:1977JGR....82.4524A. doi:10.1029/JS082i028p04524. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Happy (25th) Anniversary, Viking Lander". science.nasa.gov. NASA. 20 July 2001. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d R. D. Lorenz; Y. Nakamura (2013). "Viking Seismometer Record: Data Restoration and Dust Devil Search" (PDF). 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2013) (1719): 1178. Bibcode:2013LPI....44.1178L. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ a b Elizabeth Howell (6 December 2012). "Viking 2: Second Landing on Mars". Space.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
- ^ Y. Nakamura; D. L. Anderson (June 1979). "Martian wind activity detected by a seismometer at Viking lander 2 site" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 6 (6): 499–502. Bibcode:1979GeoRL...6..499N. doi:10.1029/GL006i006p00499. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
- ^ Ralph D. Lorenz; Yosio Nakamura; James R. Murphy (November 2017). "Viking-2 Seismometer Measurements on Mars: PDS Data Archive and Meteorological Applications". Earth and Space Science. 4 (11): 681–688. Bibcode:2017E&SS....4..681L. doi:10.1002/2017EA000306.
- ^ N. R. Goins; A. M. Dainty; M. N. Toksöz (10 June 1981). "Lunar seismology – The Internal Structure of the Moon". Journal of Geophysical Research. 86: 5061–5074. Bibcode:1981JGR....86.5061G. doi:10.1029/JB086iB06p05061. hdl:1721.1/52843.
- ^ Nora Taylor Tillman (6 January 2011). "Details of the Moon's Core Revealed by 30-year-old Data". Space.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Trudy E. Bell (15 March 2006). "Moonquakes". science.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ a b Bruce Banerdt (3 May 2018). "Gravity Assist: Mars and InSight with Bruce Banerdt". solarsystem.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ a b Andrew Good; Karen Fox; Alana Johnson (9 May 2022). "NASA's InSight Records Monster Quake on Mars". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Robin George Andrews (25 October 2023). "A Radioactive Sea of Magma Hides Under the Surface of Mars". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ^ a b Bruce Banerdt (March 2013). InSight: A Geophysical Mission to a Terrestrial Planet Interior (PDF). Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science. 6–8 March 2013. Washington, D.C. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d W. B. Banerdt (July 2013). InSight Project Status (PDF). 28th Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Meeting. 23 July 2013. Virtual meeting. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
- ^ a b M. Panning; P. Lognonne; B. Banerdt (October 2017). "Planned Products of the Mars Structure Service for the InSight Mission to Mars" (PDF). Space Science Reviews. 211 (1–4): 611–650. Bibcode:2017SSRv..211..611P. doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0317-5. hdl:10044/1/48928. S2CID 2992209. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ Ken Kremer (2 March 2012). "NASA's Proposed 'InSight'Lander would Peer to the Center of Mars in 2016". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
- ^ J. Stevanović; N. A. Teanby; J. Wookey; N. Selby; et al. (October 2017). "Bolide Airbursts as a Seismic Source for the 2018 Mars InSight Mission" (PDF). Space Science Reviews. 211 (1–4): 525–545. Bibcode:2017SSRv..211..525S. doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0327-3. S2CID 125102926. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ Bob Yirka (19 March 2021). "Data from Insight reveals size of Mars's core". Phys.org. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ a b c DC Agle (20 August 2012). "New Insight on Mars Expected From new NASA Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ a b c "Mars Cube One (MarCO)". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ a b Matt Williams (16 December 2016). "How Strong is the Gravity on Mars?". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ "NASA's Martian quake sensor InSight lands at slight angle". France 24. 1 December 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ "SolAero Awarded Solar Panel Manufacturing Contract by ATK for NASA's InSight Mars Lander Mission". SolAero (Press release). 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ "UltraFlex Solar Array Systems" (PDF). Orbital ATK. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ Victor Tangermann (27 November 2018). "NASA's InSight Mars Lander Fires up Solar Cells and Sends Selfie". Futurism.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Sarah Lewin (3 December 2018). "NASA's InSight Lander on Mars Just Set a Solar Power Record!". Space.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ a b Erica Naone (30 April 2018). "InSight spacecraft will soon peer deep into the interior of Mars". Astronomy.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Dwayne C. Brown; Michael Braukus (10 February 2014). "NASA and French Space Agency Sign Agreement for Mars Mission". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ^ Rebecca Boyle (3 June 2015). "Listening to meteorites hitting Mars will tell us what's inside". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
- ^ Sunil Kumar (1 September 2006). Design and Development of a Silicon Micro-Seismometer (PDF) (PhD). Imperial College London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ Matthew Francis (21 August 2012). "New probe to provide InSight into Mars' interior". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ P. Lognonné; W. B. Banerdt; D. Giardini; U. Christensen; T. Pike; et al. (October 2011). The GEMS (GEophysical Monitoring Station) SEISmometer (PDF). EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011. 2–7 October 2011. Nantes, France. Bibcode:2011epsc.conf.1507L. EPSC-DPS2011-1507-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bruce Banerdt (2012). InSight – Geophysical Mission to Mars (PDF). 26th Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Meeting. 4 October 2012. Monrovia, California. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ a b Leonard David (16 August 2014). "NASA's Next Mars Lander Will Peer Deep Into Red Planet's History: Here's How". Space.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ a b M. Grott; T. Spohn; W. B. Banerdt; S. Smrekar; T. L. Hudson; et al. (October 2011). Measuring Heat Flow on Mars: The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package on GEMS (PDF). EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011. 2–7 October 2011. Nantes, France. Bibcode:2011epsc.conf..379G. EPSC-DPS2011-379-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ a b Tiffany Kelly (22 May 2013). "JPL Begins Work on Two New Missions to Mars". Glendale News-Press. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ "Polish Kret will fly to Mars". Science in Poland. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "InSight Lander: Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ V. Dehant; W. Folkner; S. Le Maistre; et al. (October 2011). Geodesy on GEMS (GEophysical Monitoring Station) (PDF). EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011. 2–7 October 2011. Nantes, France. Bibcode:2011epsc.conf.1551D. EPSC-DPS2011-1551. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ S. Dell'Agnello; D. Currie; E. Ciocci; S. Contessa; G. Delle Monache; R. March; M. Martini; C. Mondaini; et al. (October 2017). Lunar, Cislunar, Near/Farside Laser Retroreflectors for the Accurate: Positioning of Landers/Rovers/Hoppers/Orbiters, Commercial Georeferencing, Test of Relativistic Gravity, and Metrics of the Lunar Interior (PDF). 2017 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group. 10–12 October 2017. Columbia, Maryland. Bibcode:2017LPICo2041.5070D. Contribution NO. 2041. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ a b W. B. Banerdt (6 October 2016). InSight Status Report (PDF). 32nd Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Meeting. 6 October 2016. Virtual. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ a b "Schiaparelli Science Package and Science Investigations". ESA. 19 October 2016. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ S. Dell'Agnello (July 2016). MoonLIGHT and INRRI: Status and Prospects. CSN2 Space Meeting. 20 July 2016. INFN-LNGS, Italy. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ Richard Fleischner (2013). "InSight Instrument Deployment Arm" (PDF). 15th European Space Mechanisms and Tribology Symposium. 718: 14. Bibcode:2013ESASP.718E..14F. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ Crazy Engineering: Space Claw on NASA's InSight Mars Lander on YouTube
- ^ a b "InSight Lander: Cameras - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ M. Golombek; W. B. Banerdt (2014). InSight Project Status and Landing Site Selection (PDF). 29th Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Meeting. 13–14 May 2014. Crystal City, Virginia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ "MarCO Separates from the Centaur Upper Stage – Mars InSight". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Pat Brennan (1 November 2022). "NASA Prepares to Say 'Farewell' to InSight Spacecraft". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ Corinne Purtill (20 December 2022). "As NASA's Mars InSight mission comes to an end, JPL engineers say farewell to its twin". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ Andrew Good; Dwayne C. Brown (28 February 2018). "NASA InSight Mission to Mars Arrives at Launch Site". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ a b Joshua Buck; George H. Hiller (19 December 2013). "NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for InSight Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ "NASA calls off next Mars mission because of instrument leak". Excite News. Associated Press. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ Kenneth Chang (22 December 2015). "Leaks in Instrument Force NASA to Delay Mars Mission Until 2018". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ D. C. Brown; L. Cantillo; G. Webster; J. Watelet (22 December 2015). "NASA Suspends 2016 Launch of InSight Mission to Mars". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "InSight: Surface Operations". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d Jia-Rui Cook; DC Agle; Dwayne C. Brown; JoAnna Wendel (21 November 2018). "NASA InSight Team on Course for Mars Touchdown". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Stephen Clark. "InSight tweaks trajectory to home in on Mars landing site". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "InSight: Landing". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ Andrew Good (26 November 2018). "InSight Is Catching Rays on Mars". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Dan Vergano (4 September 2013). "NASA searches for (literally) boring Mars landing site". USA Today. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ Alan Boyle (5 March 2015). "NASA Picks Prime Target for 2016 InSight Mars Lander". NBC News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ Mike Wall (11 March 2015). "NASA Eyeing Landing Site for 2016 Mars Mission". Space.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ M. Golombek; D. Kipp; I. J. Daubar; D. Kass; M. Mischna; W. B. Banerdt (2017). Selection of the 2018 Insight Landing Site. 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 20–24 March 2017. The Woodlands, Texas. Bibcode:2017LPI....48.1515G. LPI Contribution No. 1964, id.1515.
- ^ "InSight's Landing Site: Elysium Planitia". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ Andrew Good. "Mars InSight Lander Seen in First Images from Space". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
- ^ Keith Cowing (27 November 2018). "Mars InSight Deploys Its Solar Panels". spaceref.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ Sarah Lewin (30 November 2018). "NASA's InSight Lander on Mars Just Set a Solar Power Record!". Space.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ a b Jia-Rui Cook; Andrew Good (19 December 2018). "NASA's InSight Places First Instrument on Mars". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ a b Dwayne C. Brown; JoAnna Wendel; Andrew Good (7 December 2018). "NASA InSight Lander 'Hears' Martian Winds". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ "Mars Microphones". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ Stephen Clark (4 February 2019). "InSight lander completes seismometer deployment on Mars". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Andrew Good (13 February 2019). "NASA's InSight Prepares to Take Mars' Temperature". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL.
- ^ George Leopold (31 January 2019). "Taking Mars' Vital Signs with CCD Image Sensors". EE Times Asia. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019.
- ^ Dwayne C. Brown; Alana Johnson; Andrew Good (23 April 2019). "NASA's InSight Detects First Likely 'Quake' on Mars". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Meghan Bartels (23 April 2019). "Marsquake! NASA's InSight Lander Feels Its 1st Red Planet Tremor". Space.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Robin George Andrews (20 September 2019). "Mysterious magnetic pulses discovered on Mars". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ Andrew Good; Alana Johnson (24 February 2020). "A Year of Surprising Science From NASA's InSight Mars Mission". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
- ^ "InSight detects gravity waves, devilish dust on Mars". EurekAlert!. Cornell University. 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ Elizabeth Howell (26 February 2020). "Mars lander reveals new details about the Red Planet's strange magnetic field". Space.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ Amy Thompson (27 February 2020). "NASA's Mars Lander finds that the Red Planet's magnetic field is really weird". Teslarati.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ B. Fernando; N. Wójcicka; M. Froment; R. Maguire; S. C. Stähler; et al. (2021). "Listening for the Landing: Seismic Detections of Perseverance's arrival at Mars with InSight". Earth and Space Science. 8 (4): e2020EA001585. Bibcode:2021E&SS....801585F. doi:10.1029/2020EA001585. hdl:20.500.11937/90005. ISSN 2333-5084.
- ^ Jonathan O’Callaghan (22 December 2020). "NASA probe on Mars may feel the ground shake as rovers land in 2021". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "NASA InSight team announces results from Perseverance's landing on Mars". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ Morgan McFall-Johnsen (15 April 2021). "NASA's InSight Mars lander is about to go into hibernation. If its batteries ran out, it could die". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Mars InSight Raw Images". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ Andrew Good; Karen Fox; Alana Johnson (3 June 2021). "NASA's InSight Mars Lander Gets a Power Boost". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Andrew Good; Karen Fox; Alana Johnson (22 July 2021). "NASA's InSight Reveals the Deep Interior of Mars". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ Andrew Good; Karen Fox; Alana Johnson (11 January 2022). "NASA's InSight Sees Power Levels Stabilize After Dust Storm". nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ a b Andrew Good; Alana Johnson; Grey Hautaluoma (14 January 2021). "NASA InSight's 'Mole' Ends Its Journey on Mars". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "Mars water: Liquid water reservoirs found under Martian crust". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Strickland, Ashley (12 August 2024). "Oceans of water may be trapped deep beneath the Martian surface". CNN. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Andrew Good; Alana Johnson (3 October 2019). "NASA's Push to Save the Mars InSight Lander's Heat Probe". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ Andrew Good; Alana Johnson (17 October 2019). "Mars InSight's 'Mole' Is Moving Again". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ Andrew Good; Alana Johnson (27 October 2019). "Mars InSight's Mole Has Partially Backed Out of Its Hole". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ Amanda Kooser (27 October 2019). "NASA InSight lander 'mole' suffers another Mars misfortune". CNET. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ NASA InSight [@NASAInSight] (13 March 2020). "A bit of good news from #Mars: our new approach of using the robotic arm to push the mole appears to be working! The teams @NASAJPL/@DLR_en are excited to see the images and plan to continue this approach over the next few weeks" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Meghan Bartels (5 June 2020). "The 'mole' on Mars is finally underground after a push from NASA's InSight lander". Space.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Mike Wall (9 July 2020). "The 'mole' on Mars from NASA's InSight lander may be stuck again". Space.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ Tilman Spohn (10 August 2020). "Mars InSight mission: The Mole is 'in' and the 'finishing touches' are 'in sight'". DLR Blog. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- ^ Mike Wall (12 May 2015). "NASA Wants New Rocket Rides for Tiny CubeSats". Space.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ James Dean (16 May 2015). "NASA seeks launchers for smallest satellites". Florida Today. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ Dirk Schulze-Makuch (9 June 2015). "CubeSats to the Rescue?". Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "Mars Cube One (MarCO)". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ Douglas Messier (27 May 2015). "Two Tiny 'CubeSats' Will Watch 2016 Mars Landing". Space.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ Sami Asmar; Steve Matousek (20 November 2014). Mars Cube One (MarCO) – The First Planetary CubeSat Mission (PDF). NASA / JPL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ Andrew Good; JoAnna Wendel (5 February 2019). "The MarCO Mission Comes to an End". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ "NASA's first image of Mars from a CubeSat". Science Daily. 18 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "VACCO delivers CubeSat propulsion system for JPL Mars Cube One (MarCO)". VACCO. 2017. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018.
- ^ MarCO – Mars Cube One (PDF). NASA / JPL. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ a b "InSight: People". insight.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ "JPL Science Division: People – Bruce Banerdt". science.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ "JPL Science Division: People – Sue Smrekar". NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ David Szondy (7 November 2017). "NASA probe to carry over 2.4 million names to Mars". New Atlas. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Cassandra Santiago; Saeed Ahmed (1 November 2017). "Today's the last day to get your boarding pass to Mars". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ a b c "Names Chip Placed on InSight Lander Deck". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Second Names Chip is Placed on InSight". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ "Names-to-Mars Chip for InSight Spacecraft". science.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
External links
- InSight NASA – InSight Mission
- InSight NASA – InSight Raw Images
- InSight NASA – (video/03:31; 18 November 2018; Details)
- InSight NASA – (video/01:38; 26 November 2018; Landing)
- InSight NASA – (video/01:39; 1 December 2018; Wind Sounds)
- InSight NASA – (video/02:48; 19 July 2019; MarsQuakes)
- Mars Weather: InSight