InSight Report
InSight Report
State of the mission a few days after his arrival from Mars.
The probe that will explore the interior of the red planet is already in what will be, now and until the end of its life, the place from where it will try to reveal if its heart is still active or, on the contrary, we are in this aspect before a world geologically dead The great volcanoes of Tharsis, with signs of activity until relatively recent times suggest that there should still be some of its old vigor, but to know to what extent it is key for astronomers and astrobiologists, both to understand the evolution of terrestrial worlds and to limit the possibilities of capable of sustaining life today, even if only in the simplest forms.
It will take time to know the answer. InSight it is a complex mission in its way of working, since it involves the deployment of the two instruments that it carries with it on the surface, a delicate transport maneuver where there are no options for error or second chances. The technicians who operate the probe want to go step by step and without any hurry, and certainly that is the right path.
Let's see now the state of the mission and what we know about it right now:
- In a sea of sand: When the InSight headed to Elysium Planitia I was looking for the smoothest and most obstacle-free place possible, since a clean rocky terrain was necessary to install the seismic and thermal sensors. And the images sent indicate that those responsible can be satisfied with the place where the probe finally landed.
And is that InSight It was deposited in an impact crater filled with dust and sand known as "hollow", with an inclination of about 4 degrees, which falls fully within the permitted range, which is up to a maximum of 15. "The scientific team expected to land in a sandy area with few, so we could not be happier"explains mission manager Tom Hoffman of JPL."There are no runways on Mars, so getting off in an area that is basically a large sandbox without large rocks should facilitate the deployment of the instrument and provide a great place for our probe to start digging"You have to confirm the situation with new images, but everything seems to indicate that you can work without obstacles.- At full power: Just after the landing, and for a critical 16 minutes, the two solar panels of the probe were deployed as planned, and began to provide power. Now we know that on his first day he pulverized all the records, with 4,558 watt-hours, almost doubling the levels of Curiosity and leaving far behind that of the Mars Phoenix, that although being the same design landed much further north. It seems clear that the supply of energy will not be a problem for InSight, which augurs a long and successful mission.
- Unfolding after a long sleep: One of the key pieces is the robotic arm, since it will be responsible for picking up and depositing on the surface its two key scientific instruments, the seismometer SIX (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) and the HP3 thermal probe (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe). Something that needs all the precision and care imaginable. And the images show that this has already been deployed, making the first movements, which will follow the next days those of his clamp, the "hand" that should catch those first. After a long sleep, a little stretching always comes in handy.
- Radio works: Although the main instruments will take weeks to start work, others more secondary but no less important, are already in full activity. This is the RISE case (Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment), which receives X-band radio signals that come from the land and returns them to our planet for one hour a day. This will allow, over time, to specify its position at the cetimetre level, which in turn will allow us to know the movements of our own planet.
- Meteorology: The same as Curiosity, InSight has a Spanish meteorological station, in this case TWINS (Temperatures and Winds for InSight), built by the Astrobiology Center. Although we still do not have data, at this point you should already be taking data, which can be compared with those you send Curiosity, 600 Kilometers away. Being able to compare atmospheric measurements from two different points on the planet will help to better understand the Martian atmosphere.It is only the beginning of what promises to be an extraordinary mission. The next weeks we will have more and more images, with which finally we will have a clear and 360º view of the surrounding terrain. And only then, perhaps at the end of the year or the beginning of 2019, will the key moment arrive, in which SIX Y HP3, the very reason that justifies the existence of this mission will be deployed.
The awakening of InSight's arm. We can see his "hand", the clamp that will take SIX (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) and HP3 (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe) to put them on the surface. Everything depends on its proper functioning, and at the moment it is responding well.
The arm and the instruments in context.Mars New Home 'a Large Sandbox'
InSight progresses adequately. New photos and what to expect from her next weeks
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