Yesterday, at almost exactly 8 pm (GMT) the NASA InSight prove began its descent towards Mars. Having travelled for around 6 months to reach its destination, it was this final approach that was the most critical. Would it successfully get through the atmosphere and, more importantly, would it work when it landed!
Well, the good news is that at 8:06 pm (GMT) the Insight probe successfully landed and, so far, everything appears to be all going to plan!
Having successfully landed on the surface of Mars, the initial concerns were not yet over. One of the key points of the landing was if the solar panels would successfully deploy. If they didn’t, then the probe would, sooner or later, run out of power and cease to work. Fortunately, though, it did work and the above picture shows a selfie taken from the surface of Mars. How incredible is that?
With all the difficulties (in terms of landing) out of the way, now the Insight Prove can begin its real work. It will spend the next couple of months setting up to begin drilling into the surface of the Mars. The main purpose of the mission is to see what lies beneath the surface. This could reveal new materials unheard of on Earth or at least a better understanding of the history of our neighbouring planet.
It’s all exciting stuff and, as above, all very mindblowing when you think about it!
What do you think? Did you watch the live stream of the landing? – Let us know in the comments!
Electronic Arts (EA) announced today that its games were played for over 11 billion hours…
Steam's annual end-of-year recap, Steam Replay, provides fascinating insights into gamer habits by comparing individual…
GSC GameWorld released a major title update for STALKER 2 this seeking, bringing the game…
Without any formal announcement, Intel appears to have revealed its new Core 200H series processors…
Ubisoft is not having the best of times, but despite recent flops, the company still…
If you haven’t started playing STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl yet, now might be the…