CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -This set of images from the Instrument Deployment Camera shows NASA’s InSight lander placing its first instrument onto the surface of Mars, completing a major mission milestone.

Detailed explanation-2: -The InSight Lander’s three primary instruments, SEIS, HP3, and RISE, were designed to take the first-ever in-depth look at the planet’s “inner space.” The mission’s goal was to study the fingerprints of the process of planet formation, buried deep in the Martian interior.

Detailed explanation-3: -On 28 February 2018, InSight was shipped via C-17 cargo aircraft from the Lockheed Martin Space building in Denver to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in order to be integrated to the launch vehicle. The lander was launched on 5 May 2018 and arrived on Mars at approximately 19:54 UTC on 26 November 2018.

Detailed explanation-4: -InSight’s seismometer, SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, was a round, dome-shaped instrument that sat on the Martian surface and took the “pulse” or seismic vibrations of Mars. Its measurements provided a glimpse into the planet’s internal activity.

Detailed explanation-5: -Why did InSight Land at Elysium Planitia? InSight’s goal was to study the interior of Mars and take the planet’s vital signs, its pulse, and temperature. To look deep into Mars, the lander needed to be at a place where it could stay still and quiet for its entire mission.