 |
|
NASA’s InSight
spacecraft, its heat shield and its parachute were imaged on Dec. 6, and 11, 2018 by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona |
RocketSTEM –18 December 2018
Mars, NASA’s InSight Lander, has been uncovered thanks to detective work from
another of NASA robotic explorers – namely the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft circling overhead.
three weeks ago days after Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, 2018 as programmed inside
the 81-mile-long (130-kilometer-long) targeted landing ellipse on the plains of ‘Elysium Planitia.’
using the powerful HiRISE camera onboard MRO.
parachute were spotted by
HiRISE (which stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment)
in one set of images last week on Dec. 6, and again on Tuesday, Dec. 11,” the team announced.
 |
|
NASA’s InSight lander on
the surface of Mars imaged by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona |
lander is about 6 meters wide when the solar arrays are fully deployed.
 |
|
NASA’s InSight parachute
on the surface of Mars imaged by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona |
 |
|
An annotated image of
the surface of Mars, taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on May 30, 2014. The annotations — added after InSight landed on Nov. 26, 2018 — display the locations of NASA’s InSight lander, its heat shield and parachute. |
 |
|
The red dot marks the final landing location of
NASA’s InSight lander in this annotated image of the surface of Mars, taken by the THEMIS camera on NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2015. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU |
InSight soft landed on Mars barely three
weeks ago on Nov 26, 2018, following a 7 month, 301 million mile (484 million
km) interplanetary journey from Earth. She now starts a 2-year mission to
explore the Red Planet’s mysterious deep interior.
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA,
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports
direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and
Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer –
email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer
is a research scientist, journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.
………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX Falcon 9/USAF GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-16
launch to ISS, NASA missions, ULA Atlas
& Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville,
FL, evenings:
Dec
19: “SpaceX Dragon CRS-16
resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy &
Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF
Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex,
Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars,
NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville,
FL, evenings. Photos for sale
