On Monday, the NASA Mars InSight lander survived the “seven minutes of terror” during entry, descent and landing to safely arrive on Mars and took up permanent residence on the Red Planet. What will the craft do until November 24,2020?
And late Monday, mission scientists were able to confirm that the spacecraft’s twin 7-foot-wide solar arrays have unfurled. With the fins folded out, InSight is about the size of a big 1960s convertible, NASA said.
“We are solar-powered, so getting the arrays out and operating is a big deal,” said InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “With the arrays providing the energy, we need to start the cool science operations. We are well on our way to thoroughly investigate what’s inside of Mars for the very first time.”
The solar arrays are key to helping InSight function. Although Mars receives less sunlight than Earth, InSight doesn’t need much power to conduct its science experiments. On clear days, the panels will provide InSight with between 600 and 700 watts — enough to power the blender on your kitchen counter, NASA said. During more dusty conditions, as Mars is known to have, the panels can still pull in between 200 and 300 watts.
Within the next few days, InSight’s 5.9-foot-long robotic arm will unfold and take photos of the ground surrounding the lander.
