--- title: "Breaking: NASA’s InSight Lander Just Landed on Mars" description: "NASA's InSight Mars lander just successfully landed on the surface of the Red Planet. But there's still some waiting to be done." date: "2018-11-26" modified: "2018-11-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-insight-lander-landed-mars" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "insight mars lander" - "insight mission" - "NASA" --- # Breaking: NASA’s InSight Lander Just Landed on Mars ![]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Mission Accomplished It took six and a half long months of space travel to reach the Martian surface, but NASA's [InSight Mars Lander]() has finally made it. The robotic lander had to cover some 300 million miles (483 million km) to get there after it was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 5. ## A Treacherous Journey We don't have to tell you that landing on the Red Planet is not an easy feat: in fact, as *Space.com* points out, half of all Mars missions have [failed to arrive]() safely in the past. It's a treacherous landing. InSight reached a [breakneck speed]() of 12,000 miles per hour before slowing to just five miles per hour as it touched down with the help of a supersonic parachute and an array of small thrusters. Destination: the Elysium Planitia plain — a large, mostly flat surface that straddles the equator, close to some of the largest volcanic regions on Mars. ## Pulse of the Planet The InSight team is planning to glean data about Mars' ancient history. To do so, it's outfitted with: - A [seismometer]() to map the Martian interior (and activity) - A [heat probe]() that will measure the heat coming from deep below the Martian surface - A special [radio]() will try to glean how much Mars wobbles on its own axis as it orbits the sun ## And Now We Wait There's still one more big hurdle to overcome: the lander has yet to unfurl its solar panel array to power the [instruments]() on board. We're expecting to know if the lander did so successfully in a few hours. Then we'll have to wait until InSight actually deploys all its instruments — and finally starts sending some long-awaited data back to Earth. **READ MORE:** [NASA's InSight Mars Lander Reaches Mars Today! Here's What to Expect]() \[Space.com\] **More on the InSight lander:** [NASA’s InSight Mars Lander to Investigate Inside the Red Planet]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()