An American spacecraft has successfully reached Mars after almost seven months travelling through space, allowing scientists to understand more about the planet’s interior.
Jamie Harris
November 26 2018 9:31 PM
An American spacecraft has successfully reached Mars after almost seven months travelling through space, allowing scientists to understand more about the planet’s interior.
The InSight lander touched down on Mars just before 8pm GMT, surviving the so-called “seven minutes of terror” – a tricky landing phase for the robotic probe, travelling at 13,200mph through the planet’s thin atmosphere which provides little friction to slow down.
American space agency Nasa’s 814 million dollar (£633 million) two-year mission aims to shine new light on how the Red Planet was formed and its deep structure, by mapping its core, crust and mantle.
InSight arrived on Mars’s Elysium Planitia area north of its equator, described as an ideal spot for its flat, rockless surface.
It is the first attempt to reach Mars in six years. Only 40% of missions to the planet have succeeded and all have been US-led.
Three UK-made seismometer instruments are on board InSight, part of a £4 million UK Space Agency effort to measure seismic waves.
