The NASA InSight mission has finally landed on Mars after seven months of traveling through space. The InSight sends the official “beep” to NASA just a few minutes after the landing along with a photo of the specific surface where it landed. The “beep” is an indication that it was fine and alive.
NASA Administrator said, “Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history.”
“InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon,” he added.
On a NASA live stream, Bridenstine said, “It was tense, you could feel the emotion. It was celebratory with every new information we received.” He also mentioned about receiving a call on his cellphone from a number that was “all zeroes” only seconds after the InSight landing. He figured out that it was Vice President Mike Pence. “He watched the whole thing. He is absolutely ecstatic about our program,” Bridenstine said. “He wants me to say congratulations to everyone here at NASA and all of our international partners.”
Vice President Mike Pence is known to be the chairman of the National Space Council and spoke about his support on President Trump’s “Space Force” plan on building a branch of the military in the outer space.
It was indeed a huge event that lots of people around the globe watched out for the landing. Actually, it was broadcast live on the Nasdaq Stock Market tower in New York’s Time Square. After the touchdown was confirmed, the Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory blasted into celebratory cheers and applause.
According to JPL’s chief engineer, Rob Manning; “Flawless. This is what we hoped and imagined in our minds’ eye. It looked like it was a very successful and perfect landing.”
He added, “The vehicle is nominal. It’s happy. The lander is not complaining. We had a way to tell us if it was unhappy, and it wasn’t.” “It’s a normal mode.”
InSight is short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. It is tasked to explore the deep interiors of Mars, a part of the red planet that we know least about. It was launched on May 5 and is said to be spending two years studying and examining the planet’s interior.
Check out this video that explores the subject in greater detail:
