NASA spacecraft nears red planet on mission to detect ‘Marsquakes’

Six months ago, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) had sent a robotic satellite into space. It scurried nearer and finally landed on Mars on Monday, 26th November.

The space shuttle was required to get on the gritty Red Planet at around 3 p.m. EST after covering a distance of 301 million miles/548 million km from Earth.

As per the arrangement, InSight will sprint toward the pink stratosphere of Mars at 12000 miles/19,310 km per hour. It will then have to cover 77 miles to downgrade to the surface. Its speed will be decelerated due to aerial friction, a massive parachute, and retro-rockets. After 6.5 minutes it will touch the surface and move around at a rate of 5 mph/8 kph. The spacecraft will then rest for 16 minutes while the dust sets down. Afterward, the discoidal sets will unfold to supply power.

The NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) control team near Los Angeles anticipates real-time digital evidence about the spacecraft’s landing. To obtain this, several small satellites were sent with the InSight and they will orbit Mars. The team also hopes to get images of the surrounding areas of the even Martian plain near the equator, called the Elysium Planitia. A car-sized spacecraft was sent to Mars back in 2012, called Curiosity, which revealed that the site was approximately 600 km.

The InSight is 880 pounds/360 kg. It’s the acronym for Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transplant and is the 21st US-based Martian quest.

InSight’s mission is to discover the formation of Mars and also other rocky planets that came into being 4 billion years ago. It will take one Martian year,i.e. 24 months for the grounder to gather information through underground drilling and seismic monitoring.

HOW PLANETS FORMED

The Earth lost its history due to earthquakes and other powers but most of Mars has remained quite stagnant over the ages. This will aid scientists to track down historical information. InSight is equipped with a very sensitive seismometer that can catch the tiniest vibrations from “marsquakes” and meteor forces.

Scientists believe there will be around a dozen to 100 marsquakes throughout this time and those will tell them about the size, denseness, and structure of Mars. InSight has a German-made drill to dig 16 feet underground and then a thermal probe to measure heat. Also, a radio transmitter will send signals to Earth on the rotations of the planet.

According to NASA, the InSight and other spacecraft could lead to a potential human exploration to Mars in the future.

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