NASA’s InSight lander is about to touch down and will immediately begin to decipher the secrets that lie beneath the Martian soil. But before InSight sets to work, the craft must first survive a devilishly difficult landing. InSight needs to navigate a potentially perilous journey through the Martian atmosphere to reach the surface.
The journey to Mars has been described by NASA engineers as “seven minutes of terror”, as more landers have failed than have succeeded.
What time is NASA InSight landing on Mars today?
InSight will land on Mars at approximately 8pm GMT (noon Pacific Time or 3 pm Eastern Time) today – Monday, November 26.
You can watch the NASA TV broadcast of the landing online here.
You can also go to in-person events, which are happening in places such as New York’s Times Square and across the world.
A full list of these events can be found on Nasa’s website, here.
What will happen during Mars landing?
InSight will fly through the Martian air at 12,300 mph and must make initial contact with the atmosphere at an angle of precisely 12 degrees.
Any shallower and the probe will bounce off into deep space. Any steeper and the probe will burn up.
InSight will first touch the atmosphere six minutes and 45 seconds before landing.
During this phase, InSight will experience acceleration 12 times that of the Earth’s gravity.
A parachute will deploy three and a half minutes after InSight enters the atmosphere.
Explosives will eject the heat shield 15 seconds later, exposing the InSight probe hidden inside.
Ten seconds after the heat shield falls away, InSight will extend its legs, much like an airplane extends its wheels before touching down.
InSight will fall for an additional two minutes attached to the parachute and protected by its conical shell.
45 seconds before InSight lands, it will drop out of the shell and fall toward the surface.
As soon as it leaves the shell, its landing rockets will ignite.
Today marks the end of a seven-month trip from Earth.
The Mars insight mission has been the product of decades of planning.
The Mars mission marks NASA’s renewed interest the closest planet to Earth and is the first time scientists have visited Mars in six years.
InSight will emit radio waves which can be monitored from Earth.
Scientists will measure the degree to which Mars wobbles as it rotates, which will reveal the structure of the planet’s core.
InSight will also deploy a seismometer to monitor earthquakes, which will also uncover information about the Red Planet’s interior.
And InSight will also burrow five meters below the Martian surface to take the planet’s temperature.
This will allow planetary scientists to determine the temperature of the planet much closer to the core, which in turn will tell us about how Mars was formed.