Page 2 - AT

A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 27 November 2018

‘Flawless’: NASA craft lands on Mars after perilous journey

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aero- ning. “This is what we really Project manager Tom Hoff-
space Writer hoped and imagined in man said the spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. our mind’s eye,” he added. landed close to the bull’s-
(AP) — A NASA spacecraft “Sometimes things work out eye, but NASA did not
designed to drill down into in your favor.” have yet have the final cal-
Mars’ interior landed on NASA Administrator Jim culations.
the planet Monday after a Bridenstine, presiding over He said that it was hard
perilous, supersonic plunge his first Mars landing as the to tell from the first photo
through its red skies, set- space agency’s boss, said: whether there were any
ting off jubilation among “What an amazing day for slopes nearby, but that it
scientists who had waited our country.” appeared he got the flat,
in white-knuckle suspense InSight, part of a $1 billion smooth “parking lot” he
for confirmation to arrive international mission, fea- was hoping for.
across 100 million miles of tures a German-led me- Museums, planetariums
space. chanical mole that will bur- and libraries across the
Flight controllers at NASA’s From left, NASA officials Jim Bridenstine, Michael Watkins, Tom row down 16 feet (5 meters) U.S. held viewing parties to
Hoffman, Bruce Banerdt, Andrew Klesh and Elizabeth Barrett
Jet Propulsion Laboratory make statements under a photograph sent from Mars by the In- to measure the planet’s watch the events unfold at
in Pasadena, California, Sight lander at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Monday, Nov. internal heat. Nothing has JPL. NASA TV coverage was
leaped out of their chairs, 26, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif. ever dug deeper into Mars also shown on the giant
screaming, dancing and Associated Press. than several inches. The screen in New York’s Times
hugging, upon learning “Touchdown confirmed!” control room as the space- lander also has a French- Square, where crowds hud-
that InSight had arrived on a flight controller called craft made its six-minute made seismometer for dled under umbrellas in the
Mars, the graveyard for a out just before 3 p.m. EST, descent. measuring quakes, if they rain.
multitude of previous mis- instantly dispelling the anxi- Because of the distance exist on our smaller, geo- The 800-pound (360-kilo-
sions. ety that had gripped the between Earth and Mars, logically calmer neighbor. gram) InSight is stationary
it took eight minutes for Another experiment will and will operate from the
confirmation to arrive, re- calculate Mars’ wobble to same spot for the next two
layed by a pair of tiny sat- reveal the makeup of the years, the duration of a
ellites that had been trail- planet’s core. Martian year. Its first job was
ing InSight throughout the “In the coming months and to get a fast picture out.
six-month, 300-million-mile years even, history books The next task was unfolding
(482-million-kilometer) jour- will be rewritten about the its solar panels. NASA want-
ney. interior of Mars,” said JPL’s ed to wait 16 minutes for
The two satellites not only director, Michael Watkins. the dust to settle before at-
transmitted the good news Many Mars-bound space- tempting that; it was await-
in almost real time, they craft launched by the U.S., ing word Monday night on
also sent back InSight’s first Russia and other spacefar- how that went.
snapshot of Mars just 4½ ing countries have been It will take months to set up
minutes after landing. lost or destroyed over the and fine-tune the instru-
The picture was speckled years, with a success rate of ments. Lead scientist Bruce
with dirt because the dust just 40 percent, not count- Banerdt said he doesn’t
cover was still on the land- ing InSight. expect to start getting a
er’s camera, but the ter- NASA went with its old, stream of solid data until
rain at first glance looked straightforward approach late next spring, and it may
smooth and sandy with this time, using a para- take the entire mission to
just one sizable rock visible chute and braking engines really get the goods.
— pretty much what scien- to get InSight’s speed from “It’s going to be awesome.
tists had hoped for. Better 12,300 mph (19,800 kph) I can’t wait to start see-
photos are expected in the when it pierced the Mar- ing marsquakes,” Hoffman
days ahead. tian atmosphere, about 77 said.
It was NASA’s — indeed, hu- miles (114 kilometers) up, Mars’ well-preserved inte-
manity’s — eighth success- to 5 mph (8kph) at touch- rior provides a snapshot
ful landing at Mars since down. The danger was that of what Earth may have
the 1976 Viking probes, and the spacecraft could burn looked like following its
the first in six years. NASA’s up in the atmosphere or formation 4.5 billion years
Curiosity rover, which ar- bounce off it. ago, according to Ba-
rived in 2012, is still on the The three-legged InSight nerdt. While Earth is active
move on Mars. settled on the western side seismically, Mars “decided
“Flawless,” declared JPL’s of Elysium Planitia, the plain to rest on its laurels” after it
chief engineer, Rob Man- that NASA was aiming for. formed, he said.q