NASA InSight: Welcome to Mars!

The unmanned spacecraft InSight, sent by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), landed on Monday at 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST) on the surface of Mars. The mission is to examine the interior of the Red Planet. Landing the InSight probe is an important NASA venture. The mission is mainly American with the participation of Germany and France, but Poland also participated in the research. The Polish company Astronika in cooperation with several other companies and research centers made the soil penetrator mechanism, HP3 devices. It's an instrument that works like a thermometer hammered into the surface of Mars. On Mars, as on Earth, there are annual fluctuations in temperature. It doesn't matter at a small depth. We need to stick to five meters and separate ourselves from the impact of surface temperature changes. The thermal fluctuations caused by the day-night cycle or seasonal temperature changes no longer matter below three meters. Therefore, at this depth, you can measure the actual temperature that reaches from the surface of Mars. Over the coming weeks, the InSight probe will be looking for the best place to start research. She will also take pictures of the area. Thanks to them, a very detailed model of landing areas will be made with accuracy to individual stones. Only then will the instruments come out, which must be placed at a distance from the lander. Researchers estimate that the device will enter action in early January and transport temperature sensors to the interior of the planet.

The American InSight probe, launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in May 2018, after a six-month trip, landed on the Red Planet on Monday. InSight landed on the flat surface of the Elysium Planitia plain. This place is best for making geological measurements. Researchers estimate that the probe will probably be safe. According to the scientists, some difficulties could be caused by dust storms. Sometimes they reduce the flow of light to the solar panels, and therefore the current to the devices. The rovers are also powered by solar batteries and have problems during thunderstorms, but wind over them sometimes took the dust that settled on the cameras of the devices. Only global dust storms are a big threat, but it just ended on Mars, and they occur every few years.