Early photos from Mars InSight now showing in LSC planetarium
Houston, we have no problems!
NASA's highly-publicized InSight Mars lander successfully touched down Monday in its intended location of the surface of Mars. Minutes after landing, a picture was transmitted back to Earth via the deep space network. The picture was taken with the lens protector still attached, and it is easy to see why: Mars dust that was disturbed upon landing was floating around InSight and had gotten on the camera!
Later, once the dust had settled and the lens protector was removed, a much clearer image was sent showing the InSight lander and the clear Mars landscape beyond.
As we discussed in our last blog post, the goal of the InSight is to investigate the interior of Mars, looking at seismic activity (think: Marsquakes), the internal temperature, and how much Mars wobbles as it revolves around the Sun. This information can not only help scientists learn more about the current composition of Mars, but it can also help us understand how rocky planets form, whether life could have existed on Mars in the ancient past, what early Earth may have been like, and even about our solar system as a whole.
This week, you can see these early photos from the InSight projected on our massive screen in the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, the biggest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. Experience them during our all-live show, "Wonders of the Night Sky," playing every day. Click here for a full list of shows.
