InSight
NASA Mars lander (2018–2022)
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Key Takeaways
- The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport ( InSight ) mission was a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars.
- InSight confirmed "marsquakes" on the planet and thus a still active interior.
- InSight was active on Mars for 1440 sols (1480 days; 4 years, 19 days).
- The lander was originally planned for launch in March 2016.
- NASA officials rescheduled the InSight launch to May 2018 and during the wait the instrument was repaired.
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission was a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. It was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space, was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and two of its three scientific instruments were built by European agencies. InSight confirmed "marsquakes" on the planet and thus a still active interior.
The mission launched on 5 May 2018 at 11:05:01 UTC aboard an Atlas V-401 launch vehicle and successfully landed at Elysium Planitia on Mars on 26 November 2018 at 19:52:59 UTC. 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's early geological evolution. 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. An instrument problem delayed the launch beyond the 2016 launch window. NASA officials rescheduled the InSight launch to May 2018 and during the wait the instrument was repaired. This increased the total cost from US$675 million to US$830 million.
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