{"id":18263,"date":"2018-11-21T18:19:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T10:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/all-systems-go-for-mars-insight-landing-heres-how-to-watch-online-and-in-person\/"},"modified":"2018-11-21T18:19:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T10:19:04","slug":"all-systems-go-for-mars-insight-landing-heres-how-to-watch-online-and-in-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/all-systems-go-for-mars-insight-landing-heres-how-to-watch-online-and-in-person\/","title":{"rendered":"All systems go for Mars InSight landing: Here\u2019s how to watch online and in person"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_463567\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-463567\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-463567\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-insight-630x355.jpg\" alt=\"Mars Insight lander\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-insight-630x355.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-insight-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-insight-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-insight.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-463567\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows the Mars Insight lander on the Red Planet\u2019s surface, with its seismometer deployed at left and its heat-measuring \u201cmole\u201d deployed at right. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After a 300 million-mile, six-month interplanetary cruise, NASA\u2019s Mars InSight robotic lander is heading for a plain-vanilla arrival at the Red Planet on Monday \u2014 and the team behind the mission couldn\u2019t be more pleased.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re expecting to have a very plain day on Mars for the landing, and we\u2019re very happy about that,\u201d said Rob Grover, the engineer at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who\u2019s in charge of Mars InSight\u2019s entry, descent and landing.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not only because the weather is relatively clear, but also because Mars InSight is on track to land in a no-drama region of Mars known as Elysium Planitia, which is Latin for&nbsp; \u201cParadise Plain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may not look like paradise, but it is very flat. \u2026 It\u2019s an excellent place for landing,\u201d Grover said today. \u201cAs landing engineers, we really like this landing site.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grover and other InSight team members provided a preview of the landing today at JPL in Pasadena, Calif. The mission\u2019s name is actually an acronym of sorts, standing for \u201c<strong>IN<\/strong>terior Exploration Using <strong>S<\/strong>eismic <strong>I<\/strong>nvestigations, <strong>G<\/strong>eodesy and <strong>H<\/strong>eat <strong>T<\/strong>ransport.\u201d The lander\u2019s instruments are designed to provide unprecedented data about the Red Planet\u2019s inner structure, seismic activity and heat flow from the interior.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"InSight: Landing on Mars\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C0lwFLPiZEE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Pasadena may be the earthly epicenter for the&nbsp;$850 million mission, but NASA has upped its game for fans who want to follow the action remotely. The space agency has set up an online guide that positively bristles with animations, infographics, backgrounders and an interactive map pointing to live events&nbsp;that are keyed to the landing.<\/p>\n<p>In Seattle, the Pacific Science Center is hosting a daylong celebration and theater-style live coverage of mission activities \u2014 while at the Museum of Flight, video coverage of the landing will be put up on the big screen in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, with live commentary from space curator Geoff Nunn.<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s coverage begins at 11 a.m. PT Monday, with touchdown expected at around noon PT and a post-landing conference set for no earlier than 2 p.m. PT. Video will be streamed online via NASA TV and YouTube, plus JPL\u2019s YouTube channel&nbsp;and Ustream channel. NASA\u2019s Facebook, Twitter and&nbsp;Periscope&nbsp;social-media channels will get in on the party as well.<\/p>\n<h4>What will viewers see?<\/h4>\n<p>NASA will provide a play-by-play account of the spacecraft\u2019s approach, leading up to a crucial plunge that lasts nearly seven minutes. When the lander hits the Martian atmosphere, protected by its heat shield, it\u2019ll be traveling more than 12,000 mph and heating up to temperatures as high as 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n<p>In the latter phases of the descent, the probe\u2019s parachute will pop open, the heat shield will pop off, the landing legs will spring into place and 12 descent thrusters (produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne\u2019s team in Redmond, Wash.) will fire up to ease the lander down onto Elysium Planitia.<\/p>\n<p>The descent will be monitored by two suitcase-sized spacecraft&nbsp;that have been flying in formation near the InSight lander since they were all launched on the same rocket in May. The MarCO probes aren\u2019t designed to land on Mars themselves. Rather, they\u2019re equipped with communication equipment to relay data about InSight\u2019s descent back to Earth.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_463568\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-463568\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-463568\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-marco-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Anne Marinan with MarCO mockup\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-marco-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-marco-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-marco-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181121-marco.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-463568\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">JPL engineer Anne Marinan shows off a full-scale mockup of the MarCO flyby spacecraft with its communication antenna and solar panels deployed. MarCO stands for \u201cMars Cube One,\u201d in recognition of its status as the first breed of interplanetary CubeSats. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA doesn\u2019t strictly need MarCO-A and MarCO-B to work for mission success. MarCO\u2019s main job is to test miniaturized CubeSat technologies that could become part of the routine for future robotic exploration missions. After flying past Mars, the twin solar-powered spacecraft will continue into deep space and could be available for a follow-up mission that\u2019s yet to be determined.<\/p>\n<p>InSight\u2019s first hours of activity will be tracked by NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Odyssey orbiter as well. But because of the orbiters\u2019 positions with respect to Earth, it could be more than five hours before ground controllers hear whether InSight has opened its two sets of solar arrays. That\u2019s a key requirement for mission success. If InSight doesn\u2019t get its power-generating system working, its batteries would last \u201cnot much more than one Mars day,\u201d said Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager at JPL.<\/p>\n<h4>What will scientists get?<\/h4>\n<p>The first picture from InSight is set to be taken by the robotic probe\u2019s Instrument Context Camera, which can capture a roughly 120-degree field of view&nbsp;of the lander\u2019s surroundings. But such pictures are likely to be as plain as a plain can be.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of InSight\u2019s primary mission, which is due to last a full Martian year or a little less than two Earth years, the most important findings are expected to come from the lander\u2019s three main scientific instruments.<\/p>\n<p>A radio science instrument will receive signals from Earth and send them back again, producing fluctuations that scientists can use to track the position of the lander precisely in space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn particular, we\u2019re tracking the north pole of the planet and watching it wobble as the planet rotates,\u201d InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt said. \u201cThe wobble of that north pole is tied to the interaction between the planet and its core.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Close analysis of the readings can tell scientists how big Mars\u2019 core is, and what it\u2019s made out of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s very critical in terms of understanding the history of the planet,\u201d Banerdt said. Scientists believe that Mars once had an environment more like Earth\u2019s, but lost most of its atmosphere and water due to a complex process that involved the rapid cooldown of its core.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA Mars InSight Overview\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LKLITDmm4NA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>InSight\u2019s robotic arm will set down another instrument, known as the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, or SEIS. It\u2019s a seismometer that can detect perturbations in the Martian crust with incredible precision. \u201cDepending on exactly how you define it, it\u2019s about half the radius of a hydrogen atom,\u201d Banerdt said.<\/p>\n<p>SEIS is so delicate that it has to be contained in a vacuum chamber and shielded from Mars\u2019 whisper-thin winds. Back in 2015, problems with the vacuum seal forced NASA to postpone InSight\u2019s launch from 2016 to this year. But that delay\u2019s nothing compared to how long JPL\u2019s Sue Smrekar, deputy principal investigator for the InSight mission, has been looking forward to getting the seismic data.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI personally have been waiting for this information for decades,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The readings should reveal what kinds of seismic activity take place on Mars, how often earthquakes occur, and even how often and how forcefully meteors hit Mars. That kind of information could be useful to future Mars explorers.<\/p>\n<p>The third instrument is the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe or HP3 (\u201cHP-cubed\u201d), which is designed to take Mars\u2019 internal temperature. HP3 is a \u201cmole\u201d that hammers its way down as far as 15 feet beneath the surface to see how heat is transferred from Mars\u2019 depths to the surface. That\u2019s an important question, because if there\u2019s any life left on Mars, it\u2019s likely to lurk beneath the surface where there\u2019s a better chance of having access to warmth and liquid water.<\/p>\n<p>Once the instruments are deployed, NASA will be delivering regular snapshots of Mars as well as an unprecedented bonanza of&nbsp;seismic data and weather data.<\/p>\n<p>Just don\u2019t expect two-day delivery, even though the big event takes place on Cyber Monday. Banerdt estimates it\u2019ll be two or three months before all the instruments are set down on the ground and providing data \u2014 but he and the rest of the InSight team say it\u2019ll be worth the wait. There may even be a surprise or two.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s always the things we don\u2019t expect that turn out to be the most intriguing,\u201d Smrekar said.<\/p>\n<p><em>NASA is planning to live-stream its final pre-landing news conference at 10 a.m. PT Sunday, followed by a NASA Social Q&amp;A with the InSight team at 1 p.m. PT. Monday\u2019s NASA TV coverage includes live interviews with mission experts from 3 to 7 a.m. PT, landing commentary beginning at 11 a.m., and a post-landing news conference no earlier than 2 p.m. ET. For an entertaining look at the InSight mission, check out The Oatmeal\u2019s comic-book primer, created by Seattle\u2019s own Matthew Inman.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows the Mars Insight lander on the Red Planet\u2019s surface, with its seismometer deployed at left and its heat-measuring \u201cmole\u201d deployed at right. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech Illustration) After a 300 million-mile, six-month interplanetary cruise, NASA\u2019s Mars InSight robotic lander is heading for a plain-vanilla arrival at the Red Planet on Monday \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[927,367,190,5099],"class_list":["post-18263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-insight","tag-mars","tag-nasa","tag-seismic"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}