We have touchdown. Initial reports are positive.

And the Martians ready their invasion force in response. Which will it be:



or

Cool.

First photos coming in now:

“NASA’s $1 billion new Mars rover has successfully landed on the red planet after a nerve-wracking ‘six and a half minutes of terror,’ when it broke through the Martian atmosphere and was subjected to temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
…
Scientists could be seen jumping and cheering in the control room as they marked the successful landing, with more than a few wiping tears from their eyes…”

https://dailym.ai/2Qn3ij5

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Touchdown.

That's some awesome engineering there.

I'm fascinated by it all. Truly a remarkable feat.

"It was tense, you could feel the emotion. It was celebratory with every new information we received," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on a NASA livestream. He said he received a call on his cellphone from a number that was "all zeroes" seconds after the landing.

It was Vice President Mike Pence.

"He watched the whole thing. He is absolutely ecstatic about our program," Bridenstine said. "He wants me to say congratulations to everyone here at NASA and all of our international partners."

---

Heck, whenever I get one of those "all-zeros" calls it is for health insurance.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technol...rs/story?id=59417560

Hopefully it doesn't find anything. I just watched the movie "Life". If there is life on Mars - it belongs there - alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Snake207:
Anyone here sign up to have their name on the lander?

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/828...o-mars/?site=insight


(I did. )

Pretty sure mine was submitted for Orion. Did they roll those over to Insight automatically?

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
there is an approximately 40% failure rate on Mars probes

I am really hoping this is part of the 60% success

That's sort of misleading, as prior to Insight NASA / JPL / US was 7 of 8 on successful landings of landers & Rovers, with only Mar Polar Lander being a failure due to a software error.

The USSR / ESA are bringing the overall average down with a consistent string of landing failures but after today's landing, the US is batting 88.9% . Everyone else, 0.0% unless you count the 14.5 seconds of data from a Soviet lander.

The little kid in me who got very excited with the first Sputnik, much more excited with the Mercury program, super excited with the Gemini program, and ecstatic when Apollo 11 landed on the moon is just giddy with excitement at this achievement.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Hopefully it doesn't find anything. I just watched the movie "Life". If there is life on Mars - it belongs there - alone.

InSight isn’t looking for evidence of Martian life – past or present. Its primary mission is to learn about the Martian interior. Seismic activity, internal temperature, planetary wobble (reveals info about the solidity of the Martian core).

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Hopefully it doesn't find anything. I just watched the movie "Life". If there is life on Mars - it belongs there - alone.

InSight isn’t looking for evidence of Martian life – past or present. Its primary mission is to learn about the Martian interior. Seismic activity, internal temperature, planetary wobble (reveals info about the solidity of the Martian core).

It may also detect underground water on Mars, indirectly pointing to potential life or at least life sustaining resources should humans travel to Mars, but yes it's main goal isn't the search for life, although all scientific research can help in that regard.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
The little kid in me who got very excited with the first Sputnik, much more excited with the Mercury program, super excited with the Gemini program, and ecstatic when Apollo 11 landed on the moon is just giddy with excitement at this achievement.

Me too. I was 6 when Sputnik was orbiting and we'd go out at night and look for it as it travelled across the sky. The failed launchings of the Redstone and Atlas rockets were always so disappointing but watching the Saturn V launches more than made up for it. The 60's and 70's were exciting times in the space program for sure. I'm looking forward to the data that comes back from Insight.

Jim

Lots of folks in the Denver area are happy as it was built by Lockheed Martin at the Space Systems facility in Littleton, CO. Seems NASA and JPL get all the credit!

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Hopefully it doesn't find anything. I just watched the movie "Life". If there is life on Mars - it belongs there - alone.

Ha, watched it tonight. Couldn't agree more.