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Posted by: nprev Nov 22 2018, 07:55 PM

Good morning from Los Angeles! Today at approximately 1954 GMT InSight will touch down in Elysium Planitia, and this is where we'll discuss all the events associated with that. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public will provide live coverage starting at 1900 GMT. Official status updates will be published https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/status/

Here's a list of significant events (source: JPL). Times listed first are Earth-received US Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8):

11:40 a.m. PST (2:40 p.m. EST) — Separation from the cruise stage that carried the mission to Mars
11:41 a.m. PST (2:41 p.m. EST) — Turn to orient the spacecraft properly for atmospheric entry
11:47 a.m. PST (2:47 p.m. EST) — Atmospheric entry at about 12,300 mph (19,800 kph), beginning the entry, descent and landing phase
11:49 a.m. PST (2:49 p.m. EST) — Peak heating of the protective heat shield reaches about 2,700°F (about 1,500°C)
-15 seconds later — Peak deceleration, with the intense heating causing possible temporary dropouts in radio signals
11:51 a.m. PST (2:51 p.m. EST) — Parachute deployment
-15 seconds later — Separation from the heat shield
-10 seconds later — Deployment of the lander's three legs
11:52 a.m. PST (2:52 p.m. EST) — Activation of the radar that will sense the distance to the ground
11:53 a.m. PST (2:53 p.m. EST) — First acquisition of the radar signal
-20 seconds later — Separation from the back shell and parachute
-0.5 second later — The retrorockets, or descent engines, begin firing
-2.5 seconds later — Start of the "gravity turn" to get the lander into the proper orientation for landing
-22 seconds later — InSight begins slowing to a constant velocity (from 17 mph to a constant 5 mph, or from 27 kph to 8 kph) for its soft landing
11:54 a.m. PST (2:54 p.m. EST) — Expected touchdown on the surface of Mars
12:01 p.m. PST (3:01 p.m. EST) — "Beep" from InSight's X-band radio directly back to Earth, indicating InSight is alive and functioning on the surface of Mars
No earlier than 12:04 p.m. PST (3:04 p.m. EST), but possibly the next day — First image from InSight on the surface of Mars
No earlier than 5:35 p.m. PST (8:35 p.m. EST) — Confirmation from InSight via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter that InSight's solar arrays have deployed


Get the peanuts ready, and let's land on Mars!

GO INSIGHT!!!

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 04:38 PM

Mars looking real big on "Eyes".

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 05:01 PM

3 out of 4 of Madrid's DSN antennas are on InSight and the MARCOs right now.

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 26 2018, 05:07 PM

Now's not a good time to phone home Oppy! Get in line!

Posted by: RoverDriver Nov 26 2018, 05:23 PM

I'm sure Spirit is thinking about it ;-)

Paolo

Posted by: B Bernatchez Nov 26 2018, 05:53 PM

Good luck, everybody!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 06:52 PM

Gotta say, there is a surprisingly large amount of media attention being paid to this landing. In Los Angeles, local news has been periodically reminding everyone & even the network talk shows have mentioned it. The NASDAQ stock exchange apparently is promoting the coverage as well, which is quite unexpected.

I was also informed that all the Los Angeles public libraries are showing the landing live, and are handing out both library and InSight swag. Great EPO!!!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:00 PM

NASA TV live now!

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 26 2018, 07:02 PM

Live feed started....

Posted by: Ectahoosis Nov 26 2018, 07:23 PM

Hi! I'm new to this site. Thanks for letting me join.

Question: At what time will Insight land, in Mars local time?

Posted by: akuo Nov 26 2018, 07:26 PM

NASA TV Media channel is showing the Insight mission control, but as far as I can see, there is no audio (yet?)

Posted by: Roby72 Nov 26 2018, 07:28 PM

I think its early afternoon there at landing..but I have no exact time now.

Fingers crossed !

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:33 PM

Got good audio from the link on the first post, akuo. Might want to reload or check your audio settings.

Sometimes it does seem to go quiet for a bit as well.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:35 PM

Just saw a shot of our chairman and founder djellison on console for MarCO!

EDIT: Nope, wasn't him.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:38 PM

Cruise stage sep in 2 min.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:41 PM

MarCO UHF lock.

Posted by: Steve G Nov 26 2018, 07:41 PM

Parachute deployment is at Mach 1.66. What is Mach speed on Mars with air pressure and temperature so different than Earth's?

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:44 PM

Depends on the things you described, but in general lower because of the vastly lower air density.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:46 PM

MarCOs relaying data!

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 26 2018, 07:47 PM

Atmospheric entry....

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:48 PM

DEPLOY PEANUTS!!!!!!!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:51 PM

CHUTE DEPLOYED!!!

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Nov 26 2018, 07:54 PM

Radar has locked on to ground...

Posted by: Steve5304 Nov 26 2018, 07:54 PM

did we land

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:54 PM

T O U C H D O W N !!!!!!!!

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 26 2018, 07:54 PM

TOUCHDOWN!

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Nov 26 2018, 07:55 PM

touchdown!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Steve G Nov 26 2018, 07:57 PM

I'm getting too old for this kind of stress! Great news and congrats to the team.

Posted by: Nix Nov 26 2018, 07:57 PM

YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:58 PM

Standing by for X-band beep and maybe an image relayed by MarCO....

Posted by: Steve5304 Nov 26 2018, 07:58 PM

yeah right. I always forget this happened 27 minutes ago. We are getting delayed data.

Posted by: kenny Nov 26 2018, 07:58 PM

8 soft landings out of 9 attempts since 1976 --- what a record ! Congratulations to all.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 07:59 PM

SURFACE IMAGE!!!! Dust cover is dusty!!!

Posted by: Paolo Nov 26 2018, 08:02 PM

It looks like a few bugs splattered on the camera during descent

Posted by: Steve5304 Nov 26 2018, 08:03 PM

link

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 08:05 PM

Lander is nominal.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 08:06 PM

Posted by: Steve G Nov 26 2018, 08:06 PM

Screen capture

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 08:07 PM

Posted by: Steve5304 Nov 26 2018, 08:09 PM

will that lens cover come off?

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 08:10 PM

Post landing briefing at 5pm EST.

Yes.

Posted by: Mongo Nov 26 2018, 08:12 PM

Slightly enhanced image:

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 08:13 PM

Yes, of course. Not till it's safe to do so, though (gotta let the landing dust settle) and there are other critical events of higher priority, particularly solar panel deployment.

Posted by: fredk Nov 26 2018, 08:19 PM

First image up already!
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight-raw-images/surface/sol/0000/icc/C000M0000_596533559EDR_F0000_0106M_.PNG
The surface looks very smooth.

Posted by: Steve G Nov 26 2018, 08:20 PM

Okay, this is a quick ten minute job to remove the worst of the dust. More dust than Mars, unfortunately.

Posted by: Steve5304 Nov 26 2018, 08:22 PM

looks similar to phoenix landing zone. pretty boring for images but wealthy in science

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 08:23 PM

Forum note: Later on today or possibly tomorrow after the early critical deployments are carried out this thread will be closed and we'll open a new surface operations thread.

What a ride that was!!!!

Posted by: galileo Nov 26 2018, 08:24 PM

Heres the link for the first picture from Insight:


https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cdate_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=insight

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 08:24 PM

That was pretty quick, considering it's Sol 0.

Posted by: mcaplinger Nov 26 2018, 08:26 PM

Huh. Crud on the dust cover is a lot clumpier looking than what we got on the MAHLI dust cover on MSL. Maybe more localized material from the different thruster configuration and camera placement.

Posted by: atomoid Nov 26 2018, 08:26 PM

..and seems to have broken the internet! pancake,pancake,pancake!! https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/multimedia/raw-images/

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 08:28 PM

NASA TV live coverage just ended, press brief at 1400 PST (2200 GMT).

Posted by: MahFL Nov 26 2018, 08:30 PM

During the pre-landing briefings I did not hear anyone say an image might be sent back right after touchdown, did anyone else ?

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 26 2018, 08:30 PM

"That was pretty quick, considering it's Sol 1"

No, actually it is Sol 0.

Phil

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 26 2018, 08:31 PM

First image also here:

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/22159/insights-first-image-from-mars/?site=insight

Phil

Posted by: akuo Nov 26 2018, 08:32 PM

(The PNG file on the raw images site is not complete, the bottom of the image is missing.) Edit: it's fixed now

Complete image at least in Emily's article here (from twitter?) http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/insight-has-landed.html

Congrats Insight Team!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 08:38 PM

It was mentioned as a possibility in the timeline, but it was entirely dependent on the success of MarCO. By all accounts, they have performed brilliantly.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 26 2018, 08:45 PM

Working on the assumption that it's never too early to start analyzing images here on UMSF:

The small arrows outline a skid mark on the surface made as that rock was pushed by the thrusters, as also seen twice at the Phoenix site.

EDIT: Now I'm not certain that thing on the right is a footpad. There may be some more small rocks over there.

EDIT 2: no, looks like I was right first time.

Phil

Posted by: RoverDriver Nov 26 2018, 08:48 PM

That does not surprises me given the different position of the dust cover, mostly the distance to the ground. I would say it is quite similar to the first image we received from the FHAZ from Curiosity which would have a distance and positioning more similar to IS.

Paolo

Posted by: lyford Nov 26 2018, 08:51 PM

Just got out of a work meeting, did I miss anything?

Posted by: B Bernatchez Nov 26 2018, 09:07 PM

Congrats to the team.

Posted by: atomoid Nov 26 2018, 09:28 PM

i was assuming it was mini dune formation by thruster blast, but yep probably same scenario as Phoenix.

presumably the image is from the Instrument Context Camera, does anyone know if the lander is situated as planned with the workspace oriented to the south?

Posted by: SpaceListener Nov 26 2018, 09:30 PM

The landing site looks a very good place for HP3 instrument since the land is smooth, almost lack of stones and is sandy.

About the Lens of the camera, I thought that the next mission, this must be covered by a protective and after a landing, it should be opened before taking a picture. This is to prevent the lens of the camera from getting dirty

Posted by: nogal Nov 26 2018, 09:37 PM

But it is! The cover is transparent and will come out later. Just as has happened with Curiosity.

Now waiting for the post landing conference at 22:00 UTC. Congratulations to the whole team! What a great job they've done!
Fernando

Posted by: tedstryk Nov 26 2018, 09:45 PM

I did a quick and dirty cleanup of the initially tweeted image (not the better version that came out later) to capture the feeling of the scene.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 09:49 PM

Superb!

Reminder: Press conference on NASA TV in 12 minutes.

Posted by: dolphin Nov 26 2018, 09:58 PM

Congrats, team.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 10:03 PM

Press conference live now, featuring JPL (and UMSF's!) own Veronica McGregor!

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 10:22 PM

MarCO image of Mars from 4000 miles! Also a brief glimpse of djellison!

Posted by: Deimos Nov 26 2018, 10:28 PM

Shadow seems to suggest that: toward lander and image-left, from mid-afternoon southern Sun.

Posted by: John Moore Nov 26 2018, 10:32 PM

Awesome...look forward to the protective len views.
John

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Nov 26 2018, 10:33 PM

Veronica and Emily both look like they've gotten younger in the 5 or 6 years since I last saw either of them.

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 10:36 PM

Agreed. (We need to add a thumbs-up feature here... )

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 10:54 PM

MarCO Mars flyby image. Definitely the selfie of the year. (Credit: NASA)

Posted by: nprev Nov 26 2018, 11:00 PM

Forum note: Okay, not sure when the next update from NASA will be, but we'll keep the discussion here for now. Solar panel deployment confirmation expected no earlier than 1735 PST (0135 GMT), so hopefully we will receive word of that and possibly other data as well.

Posted by: climber Nov 26 2018, 11:30 PM

Probably the same for you Dan, you’ve been kind of hibernating...?

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Nov 26 2018, 11:39 PM

No. I'm more bald and I grew a white beard.

Posted by: Adam Hurcewicz Nov 26 2018, 11:40 PM

If landing site are match that image could be fine.
This is small version, I have also BIG 12000 x 8000 px

check MRO/HIRISE DTM for that area:
https://www.uahirise.org/dtm/dtm.php?ID=ESP_038449_1845

Posted by: walfy Nov 27 2018, 12:00 AM

Possible meteorite? Pure speculation at this point. Congrats to the engineers!

Posted by: Roby72 Nov 27 2018, 12:09 AM

A reminder how the Hazcam of Curiosity looks before the dusty dust cover comes off in 2012:

https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00000/opgs/edr/fcam/FRA_397504830EDR_F0010000AUT_04096M_.JPG

and after it comes off:

https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00000/opgs/edr/fcam/FRA_397506083EDR_F0010008AUT_04096M_.JPG

It seems that on Curiosity the dust slips also beyond the cover a little..but its just a guess what we might see in a few hours from the cover free Insight camera (in color!)

Posted by: Gerald Nov 27 2018, 12:24 AM

120 degrees de-fisheyed version, and an attempt to improve contrast of the environment behind the dust cover:

Out-of-the-hip, I didn't find a good technique to remove the patches on the dust cover, so I enhanced the contrast in the background, instead.
There is also a saturation and brightnes gradient, which I didn't try to remove.

The lander seems to be slightly tilted. Might be, that one of the feet is standing on top of a small rock like the one in the foreground.

Posted by: MahFL Nov 27 2018, 12:55 AM

They said on the post landing conference the tilt was less than 2 degrees.

Posted by: climber Nov 27 2018, 01:23 AM

Can we compare Marco’s image definition to Mariner 4’s? Distance to Mars, FOV, etc...?
It seams to me that we can see some features...

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 01:31 AM

The expected time for an orbiter downlink (looks like MODY) is approaching. Suggest following Emily's updated article http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/insight-has-landed.html?fbclid=IwAR0GtBPK9t29T8Tt0QrTJW7ZhJhqugW9wGR1i_7D6sKDQJWiEwe1Z4rzM2U; if anyone gets a scoop, it'll be her.

Posted by: MahFL Nov 27 2018, 01:38 AM

I am watching DSN Now like a hawk, lol.

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 01:40 AM

Yeah, but remember the same caution as the Oppy recovery efforts...it's not an authoritative indicator of anything, really.

Posted by: dmg Nov 27 2018, 02:03 AM

I understand the caution about DSN Now in terms of the variable "positive predictive value" of it appearing to be communicating with a certain spacecraft. What is the "negative predictive value" of it showing a prolonged (i.e. in this case >25 min) NO communication through any antenna with a given spacecraft at a time that comm. was expected?

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 02:06 AM

No idea. All I know is that the real word on anything's gotta come from NASA/JPL.

Posted by: xflare Nov 27 2018, 02:15 AM

I dont think the DSN Now site showed any downlink from the Parker Solar Probe in the hour or so after it was launched

Posted by: dmg Nov 27 2018, 02:18 AM

Yes but in this case the expected comm pass was with mars odyssey which would transmit from what it got from insight. Anyway nothing to do but wait and see

Posted by: xflare Nov 27 2018, 02:21 AM

Yes, but I remember it showing up on the antenna as SPP (Solar Probe Plus) but no downlink animation, even though they obviously had received data, because they confirmed critical spacecraft deployment sequences.

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 02:23 AM

<shrug>...same thing in this case. MODY is shown on DSS 25 & 26, MAVEN & MRO also on 26. We can't tell.

Patience, grasshoppers, patience.

Posted by: marsophile Nov 27 2018, 02:29 AM

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/11/26/insight-mission-status-center/

Spaceflightnow does live updates.

Posted by: Hungry4info Nov 27 2018, 02:46 AM

New image.

Posted by: djellison Nov 27 2018, 02:47 AM

False negatives are also a thing. Very often. All down to the antennas and how they report their status back to the subscription services from which DSN Now generates it's status XML file that drives the web-page.

Because that Odyssey pass happened and the data is VERY much on the ground...

https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/insight/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cdate_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=insight&begin_sol=0&end_sol=0

Posted by: ChrisC Nov 27 2018, 02:53 AM

That's surprisingly rocky. That's a big effing boulder in the distance. The only concern here is that the mole will hit a big horizontal rock on the way down ...

Based on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3WEBYIo_PM, this view is looking down the arm towards the SOUTH, towards the direction that the instruments will be deployed.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 27 2018, 02:54 AM

The raw image page:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cdate_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=insight

shows two versions of the first image taken a few minutes apart. The dust has moved around a bit on it, which will help clean up the image while we wait for that cover to drop off.

Phil

Posted by: MahFL Nov 27 2018, 02:55 AM

Not exactly a flat parking lot, I see some good sized rocks.

Posted by: fredk Nov 27 2018, 02:58 AM

A simple max filter does a good job of showing where the dust isn't between the two frames:

(Areas covered by dust are dark, so taking the max of the two frames pixel-by-pixel removes it where it's only on one of the two frames.)

Posted by: xflare Nov 27 2018, 03:01 AM

Well, the text accompanying that image says "looking forward to exploring my new home"

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 03:02 AM

Thanks for the DSN Now clarification, Doug.


Yeah, that's...pretty rough in the distance. Could've gotten ugly. Looks like they found a nice sandy patch, though, if the rest of the terrain is like the near part.

Posted by: MahFL Nov 27 2018, 03:02 AM

Anyone notice the indentations on the robotic arm cover plate, wonder if they were there before flight ?

Posted by: PDP8E Nov 27 2018, 03:10 AM

PHIL-O-VISION of the horizon; 10X vertical
~2 degrees tilt to the right - straighten out
This place is flat...

EDIT:
better PHIL-O-VISION (rotate left 2 degrees before vertical exaggeration)

Posted by: Phil Stooke Nov 27 2018, 03:10 AM

NASA JPL
‏Verified account @NASAJPL
2m2 minutes ago

Data from Odyssey indicate @NASAInSight’s solar arrays are open and batteries are charging. The transmission also included this view from the instrument deployment camera, showing the seismometer (left), grapple (center) and robotic arm (right) -----

Posted by: Tom Tamlyn Nov 27 2018, 03:11 AM

Solar panels are deployed and batteries are charging.

https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1067253443339776000

Edit: jinxed by Phil

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 03:18 AM

Forum note: All RIGHT!!!!! We have now all exhaled, so it's time to segue into the surface operations phase. Please start migrating the discussion to http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8432; the EDL thread will close sometime in the near future.

What a great day it's been.

Posted by: ChrisC Nov 27 2018, 03:48 AM

Yup, sure did, and it's discussed at length in both the press kit and Emily's what-to-expect article.

Posted by: elakdawalla Nov 27 2018, 05:07 AM

Bruce Banerdt told me today the following:
- very close to center of the ellipse
- lander tilt about 1.7 degrees to N-eastish, basically level
- almost perfect clocking to desired E-W

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 05:11 AM

Couldn't ask for anything more.

Question that they may or not may not know the answer to: The latest image shows some rough terrain fairly close at hand, though hard to judge distance; were they confident enough in the targeting accuracy that they were sure that they'd miss that area?

Posted by: djellison Nov 27 2018, 05:14 AM

That's probably only a few tens of meters away - if that. The landing ellipse was 10's of km across.

In short - the spacecraft was basically just as likely to land where it did, as on top of that large rock in the middle distance.

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 05:17 AM

Was wondering precisely that. Glad to see that the luck of the Vikings was with InSight....

Posted by: serpens Nov 27 2018, 05:30 AM

The larger rocks seem few and far between so there would be a finite but very low probability of landing on one. Would not smaller
rocks, potentially able to tilt the lander if a leg pad encountered one be moved by the lander exhaust? The landing image does seem to show a scoured field close in.

Posted by: MahFL Nov 27 2018, 05:42 AM

There is always a % risk of a bad landing.
I wonder what the worst case scenario was for instrument deploy ? 45 degrees/ 60 degrees ?

Posted by: propguy Nov 27 2018, 05:55 AM

Just got back for a great dinner with family after EDL. This landing was great and the flight data almost looks like our sim data from the many EDL sims we did. Also a great match to Phoenix performance, so I hope we can do more of these than once every 10 years. Still very excited from my 2nd landing on Mars (now 2 for 3)! Was on InSight from the proposal phase, so 7 years of hard work came to fruition in in 7 minutes. Arrays deployed and we have positive power so short term we are very safe (never guess longer than short term).

The Marcos were great (if any Marco team members watch this forum thanks so much for the data)! We got Marco UHF carrier lock before we even separated from the cruise stage and telemetry well before entry interface. Never dropped data during EDL (even at backshell sep which expected). No ideas but I bet this technology will be on future lander programs. On PHX I focused on the prop system telemetry only (pressures and thruster on times). This time I watched the system performance (GNC rates, altitude and velocity), and I am glad that I did. I does look from the data we did a BAM to avoid the backshell (we had low horizontal rates), but need to review in more detail to be sure. Prop system worked great and thanks to all the suppliers who built the pieces for us. No way to compare the rush this event gave me (I have done lots of things in deep space including orbit insertions at Jupiter and Saturn) but nothing compares to seeing data like this during EDL! Much better than MPL (RIP, but without that failure we may not have had two successive successes). I am not involved in landed ops (no need for prop in that phase) but still hope all science goes great and just like PHX and Juno provides data that invalidates many previous theories (that is in my opinion the best reason to do these missions)! Getting tired so it is good night for me.

Posted by: nprev Nov 27 2018, 06:02 AM

Great job, propguy; sure made it look easy to us amateurs!!! Get some rest & crack a cold one or six; you damn well earned it.

Thanks for all the InSight <rimshot!> you contributed here; it was fascinating and very, VERY much appreciated!

Posted by: paraisosdelsistemasolar Nov 27 2018, 07:07 AM

I just want to say congratulations to all the InSight team.
Yesterday Mars and InSight were trending since 18:00 UTC in social networks in Spain until late at night. And that is great.

Posted by: PaulM Nov 27 2018, 08:03 AM

A photo taken by the camera on the instrument arm has now appeared on the insight raw images page. The cover is still on this camera. However due to the lack of dust up there, the image is clear.

https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/13?site=insight

The rocks in this image look larger than those on the press conference image.

Posted by: nprev Nov 28 2018, 04:32 AM

A rather neat public art reaction to the successful EDL. This is The Last Bookstore in downtown Los Angeles, at the intersection of 5th & Spring Streets. You will notice a small "space invader" tile model at about the 10 o'clock position from the large red lit balloon.

The invader appeared back in May. The balloon appeared several days ago but remained dark. The balloon was lit today.

Posted by: nprev Aug 23 2019, 04:03 AM

Sorry to briefly reopen a closed thread, but NASA just released a rather cool bit of EPO regarding https://go.nasa.gov/MarsRocks. Check out the video, turn it up, and enjoy!

Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 23 2019, 05:18 PM

I will take advantage of the opened thread to add this: the cruise stage which brought InSight to Mars was separated before entry. It would have entered the atmosphere and some fragments probably hit the ground. The Curiosity cruise stage impact site was imaged by HiRISE, so InSight's probably could be as well. It would probably show up first in CTX images. Here's hoping!

Phil