Topic: In Search of Mars~Quakes - The Landing is InSight for 11:53 AM PT.
Anonymous A started this discussion 7 years ago #81,004
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/watch-online/InSight's objective is to place a stationary lander equipped with a seismometer called SEIS produced by the French space agency CNES, and measure heat transfer with a heat probe called HP3 produced by the German space agency DLR to study the planet's early geological evolution. This could bring new understanding of the Solar System's terrestrial planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars — and the Earth's Moon
Once InSight descends to about 10 miles (16 kilometers) above the surface, a parachute will open, the heat shield will pop off, and the lander's three legs will extend and lock in place, ready to absorb some of the landing impact. When the lander has approximately 1 mile (2 km) to go, it will separate from the back shell — the structure holding the parachute — and fire engines to slow its fall, Manning said.
Reaching Mars is an elusive prize for space agencies worldwide; only 40 percent of all missions to Mars have been successful, and the U.S. is the only nation whose landers have survived their descent, NASA said..