D
Deleted 158059
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Mission success, despite the politicians getting involved 
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NASA & the Mars Insight Lander
- Thread starter Spanks
- Start date
Ortholith
LE
The solar panels have deployed
Not that it's on a reliable news source but the timing fits and the NASA tweet looks official.
Not that it's on a reliable news source but the timing fits and the NASA tweet looks official.
D
Deleted 158059
Guest
We are not alone.
Spanks
LE
NASA's InSight has sent signals to Earth indicating that its solar panels are open and collecting sunlight on the Martian surface. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed the signals, which were received on Earth at about 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST). Solar array deployment ensures the spacecraft can recharge its batteries each day. Odyssey also relayed a pair of images showing InSight's landing site.
"The InSight team can rest a little easier tonight now that we know the spacecraft solar arrays are deployed and recharging the batteries," said Tom Hoffman, InSight's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which leads the mission. "It's been a long day for the team. But tomorrow begins an exciting new chapter for InSight: surface operations and the beginning of the instrument deployment phase."
InSight's twin solar arrays are each 7 feet (2.2 meters) wide; when they're open, the entire lander is about the size of a big 1960s convertible. Mars has weaker sunlight than Earth because it's much farther away from the Sun. But the lander doesn't need much to operate: The panels provide 600 to 700 watts on a clear day, enough to power a household blender and plenty to keep its instruments conducting science on the Red Planet. Even when dust covers the panels — what is likely to be a common occurrence on Mars — they should be able to provide at least 200 to 300 watts.
The panels are modeled on those used with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, though InSight’s are slightly larger in order to provide more power output and to increase their structural strength. These changes were necessary to support operations for one full Mars year (two Earth years).
In the coming days, the mission team will unstow InSight's robotic arm and use the attached camera to snap photos of the ground so that engineers can decide where to place the spacecraft's scientific instruments. It will take two to three months before those instruments are fully deployed and sending back data.
In the meantime, InSight will use its weather sensors and magnetometer to take readings from its landing site at Elysium Planitia — its new home on Mars.
Interesting to see some of the rudimentary make up of such an expensive craft, duct tape, zip ties, tin foil, and even 2nd hand parts like the bent fins.
"The InSight team can rest a little easier tonight now that we know the spacecraft solar arrays are deployed and recharging the batteries," said Tom Hoffman, InSight's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which leads the mission. "It's been a long day for the team. But tomorrow begins an exciting new chapter for InSight: surface operations and the beginning of the instrument deployment phase."
InSight's twin solar arrays are each 7 feet (2.2 meters) wide; when they're open, the entire lander is about the size of a big 1960s convertible. Mars has weaker sunlight than Earth because it's much farther away from the Sun. But the lander doesn't need much to operate: The panels provide 600 to 700 watts on a clear day, enough to power a household blender and plenty to keep its instruments conducting science on the Red Planet. Even when dust covers the panels — what is likely to be a common occurrence on Mars — they should be able to provide at least 200 to 300 watts.
The panels are modeled on those used with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, though InSight’s are slightly larger in order to provide more power output and to increase their structural strength. These changes were necessary to support operations for one full Mars year (two Earth years).
In the coming days, the mission team will unstow InSight's robotic arm and use the attached camera to snap photos of the ground so that engineers can decide where to place the spacecraft's scientific instruments. It will take two to three months before those instruments are fully deployed and sending back data.
In the meantime, InSight will use its weather sensors and magnetometer to take readings from its landing site at Elysium Planitia — its new home on Mars.
Interesting to see some of the rudimentary make up of such an expensive craft, duct tape, zip ties, tin foil, and even 2nd hand parts like the bent fins.
lert
LE
Nonsense. The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one.
Yet still...
johnboyzzz
LE
Terrific achievement from all involved.
It has caused some disturbance amongst the locals though
It has caused some disturbance amongst the locals though
Señor Totoff
Old-Salt
WOW! - 'tis the tombstone of James Edward Whitaker* RIP. formerly of the spacecraft Discovery.
Born 1863 & died Oct 1954, just before Discovery crash landed at Mars's South Pole...
See 'Journey into Space - The Red Planet'
* "Orders must be obeyed without question at all times" etc
Journey into Space - Wikipedia
spaz
LE
Wightsparker
LE
Be honest, we'd shit it if that happened.
Spanks
LE
A new picture from the Lander.
The lander—which doesn’t have any wheels to roll around—has powered up, it’s checking out its surroundings with the help of a camera mounted on the “elbow” of a six-foot-long robotic arm, seen hanging down from the top of the frame.
Once the arm has mapped nearby areas it will start to set up shop, placing two instruments onto the ruddy soil. The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure instrument (the hexagonal orange box) will monitor the ground for marsquakes—even ones that ripple the surface by just a few atoms. The gray plate-cover seen sitting just behind will be placed over it protect from wind and temperature swings.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The arm will also move the black, rocket-like tube to the surface, where it will drill down and drop a thermometer-like device 16 feet into the planet to track its temperature. Researchers hope that tracking heat flow will help settle questions about the interior, such as whether magma still flows deep inside the planet.
To minimize the risk of misplacement, the team expects InSight will proceed slowly but surely, taking as long as two or three months to settle in. The entire mission will last for about two Earth years.
The lander—which doesn’t have any wheels to roll around—has powered up, it’s checking out its surroundings with the help of a camera mounted on the “elbow” of a six-foot-long robotic arm, seen hanging down from the top of the frame.
Once the arm has mapped nearby areas it will start to set up shop, placing two instruments onto the ruddy soil. The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure instrument (the hexagonal orange box) will monitor the ground for marsquakes—even ones that ripple the surface by just a few atoms. The gray plate-cover seen sitting just behind will be placed over it protect from wind and temperature swings.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The arm will also move the black, rocket-like tube to the surface, where it will drill down and drop a thermometer-like device 16 feet into the planet to track its temperature. Researchers hope that tracking heat flow will help settle questions about the interior, such as whether magma still flows deep inside the planet.
To minimize the risk of misplacement, the team expects InSight will proceed slowly but surely, taking as long as two or three months to settle in. The entire mission will last for about two Earth years.
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