Search Results for: insight

InSight: Lander’s ‘mole’ pauses digging

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has a probe designed to dig up to 16 feet (5 meters) below the surface and measure heat coming from inside the planet. After beginning to hammer itself into the soil on Thursday, Feb. 28, the … Continue reading

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InSight update, Sol 92, by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society

The mole did hit a rock. Mars could’ve given us a break, but it didn’t. The HP3 mole started hammering itself today, and almost immediately (after just 5 minutes) appears to have encountered a rock. After four hours of hammering, it … Continue reading

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InSight update, Sols 43-83, by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society

Now that InSight has finished placing both science instruments and the wind cover, the arm’s required work is done and the science team can set about commissioning their instruments. For the heat probe instrument, commissioning involves driving its instrumented “mole” … Continue reading

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InSight: New Mars weather service

No matter how cold your winter has been, it’s probably not as chilly as Mars. Check for yourself: Starting today, the public can get a daily weather report from NASA’s InSight lander. This public tool includes stats on temperature, wind … Continue reading

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InSight deploys heat flow package

NASA’s InSight lander has placed its second instrument on the Martian surface. New images confirm that the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3, was successfully deployed on Feb. 12 about 3 feet (1 meter) from InSight’s seismometer, which … Continue reading

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InSight: Wind and thermal shield placed on Sol 66

[From Emily Lakdawalla’s blog at the Planetary Society] Just a brief update to point out that the InSight mission has successfully placed the wind and thermal shield over the seismometer. The seismometer will now be shielded from winds and kept … Continue reading

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InSight: Seismometer now has a cozy shelter

For the past several weeks, NASA’s InSight lander has been making adjustments to the seismometer it set on the Martian surface on Dec. 19. Now it’s reached another milestone by placing a domed shield over the seismometer to help the … Continue reading

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InSight update, Sols 25-42, by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society

In the weeks since my last update, InSight has methodically worked through most of the long list of activities required to set up its sensitive seismometer experiment, SEIS. Engineers have leveled the seismometer and worked on cable management. Most significantly … Continue reading

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JPL public lecture: Red Planet Rovers and Insights

Get the scoop on the latest missions at Mars. This lecture will bring you up to speed on all things Mars, including: The biggest dust storm in a decade, rolling (and drilling) on “Vera Rubin Ridge,” a new rover under … Continue reading

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InSight update, Sols 1-24, by Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society

It’s been a busy first three weeks on the InSight mission, and they’ve already achieved a major milestone: placing the seismometer on the ground. In this post I’ll give a few brief highlights of the latest mission activities, and then … Continue reading

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