NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Seen in First Images from Mars Orbit

NASA's InSight spacecraft, its heat shield and its parachute were imaged on Dec. 6,  and 11, 2018 by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –18 December 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  The exact location of the newest resident on Mars, NASA’s InSight Lander, has been uncovered thanks to detective work from another of NASA robotic explorers – namely the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft circling overhead.

InSight touched down softly on the Red Planet just three weeks ago days after Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, 2018 as programmed inside the 81-mile-long (130-kilometer-long) targeted landing ellipse  on the plains of ‘Elysium Planitia.’

The science team was able to pinpoint InSight’s location using the powerful HiRISE camera onboard MRO.

"The InSight lander, its heat shield and parachute were spotted by HiRISE (which stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) in one set of images last week on Dec. 6, and again on Tuesday, Dec. 11,” the team announced.

NASA's InSight lander on the surface of Mars imaged by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.   Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

The lander is about 6 meters wide when the solar arrays are fully deployed. 

NASA's InSight parachute on the surface of Mars imaged by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

An annotated image of the surface of Mars, taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on May 30, 2014. The annotations — added after InSight landed on Nov. 26, 2018 — display the locations of NASA's InSight lander, its heat shield and parachute.

The red dot marks the final landing location of NASA's InSight lander in this annotated image of the surface of Mars, taken by the THEMIS camera on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2015.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

InSight soft landed on Mars barely three weeks ago on Nov 26, 2018, following a 7 month, 301 million mile (484 million km) interplanetary journey from Earth. She now starts a 2-year mission to explore the Red Planet’s mysterious deep interior.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.


Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist, journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.

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Dec 19: “SpaceX Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale