Video: Celebrations as NASA probe InSight lands on Mars
A NASA space probe has touched down on the surface of Mars.
Out of 17 missions to Mars, 10 have crashed.
But this morning the InSight lander completed a six-month, 482 million-kilometre trip to the red planet.
Former astronaut trainer and 3AW Mornings space expert Dr Gail Iles told Neil Mitchell the mission cost $830 million.
“So quite cheap!” Dr Iles said.
“It’s the second probe to land on Mars, the first was in 2008, and that was to investigate the habitability and any history of water on Mars.
“This one is to investigate the seismic activity, to see if there’s any earthquakes, to see if anything’s happening under the surface, and to look at heat transfer properties across the surface.”
Click PLAY below to hear the details
Click PLAY to watch the scenes from NASA as the probe landed
Our @NASAInSight spacecraft stuck the #MarsLanding!
Its new home is Elysium Planitia, a still, flat region where it’s set to study seismic waves and heat deep below the surface of the Red Planet for a planned two-year mission. Learn more: https://t.co/fIPATUugFo pic.twitter.com/j0hXTjhV6I
— NASA (@NASA) November 26, 2018
The first image has been released.
My first picture on #Mars! My lens cover isn’t off yet, but I just had to show you a first look at my new home. More status updates:https://t.co/tYcLE3tkkS #MarsLanding pic.twitter.com/G15bJjMYxa
— NASAInSight (@NASAInSight) November 26, 2018
The InSight lander will spend coming months exploring Mars, studying its interior and listening for marsquakes.