The InSight device sent a second selfie from Mars


    The InSight descent scientific apparatus made its first selfie photograph on December 6, 2018, ten days after landing on the surface of Mars on November 26, 2018.

    Five months passed by the InSight spacecraft on Mars, and now we can evaluate how its appearance has changed over this time.

    Self-photos of the InSight device are obtained at NASA by collecting a mosaic of 14 photos that the device itself makes with its camera using a 1.8 meter long robotic arm.

    Parameters of the InSight apparatus:

    - length 6 meters (with deployed solar panels);
    - width 1.56 meters (equal to the diameter of the central deck)
    - deck length from 83 to 108 centimeters;
    - length of a robotic arm 1.8 meters;
    - weight 360 kilograms;
    - two solar panels (diameter of each 2.2 meters).

    The estimated duration of the InSight mission is 709 Martian days (158 such days have already passed) or 728 Earth days (almost two Earth years).

    Sol is a Martian day. They are slightly longer than earthly and make 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35,244 seconds. The year on Mars is equal to 669.56 "Solam" or 686.94 Earth days.

    The first self-photograph of the InSight apparatus dated December 6, 2018



    The InSight apparatus is clean, free of dust and sand on the solar panels and the hull, and two research devices are visible on its central deck: a set of seismometers and a buried thermal probe, which only prepared apparatus for use on the surface of Mars.

    The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) seismometer is designed to study the internal structure of Mars, study soil vibrations (marsquakes), determine the depth and composition of its layers.

    The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is a device for measuring heat flux designed to measure heat flux below the surface of Mars.

    The second self-photograph of the InSight apparatus dated May 6, 2019



    On the InSight apparatus a thin layer of dust and sand is already visible, which has covered the apparatus for five months. The central part of the InSight is empty. Scientific instruments (thermal sensor and seismometer) are already on the surface of Mars and are doing research.



    The InSight device unloaded them outside with his shy hand:

    - the seismometer was unloaded on the surface of Mars on December 19, 2018 at a distance of 1.6 meters from the landing platform;



    Installing the protective cap on the seismometer:







    - a probe for measuring the heat flux below the surface of Mars (penetration up to 5 meters deep into the surface using the built-in drill) was unloaded on the surface of Mars on February 12, 2019 at a distance of 1 meter from the landing platform.

    There are already some measurement results obtained using the HP3 heat flux probe.



    Comparison of photos - here is a link to the NASA website. :



    InSight solar panels are covered with dust:



    Left - December 10, 2018, Right - March 31, 2019:



    Moreover, this is not the first layer of dust and sand that the InSight apparatus covers; on February 1, 2019, a dust vortex (Martian dust devil) was fixed above the InSight apparatus’s landing site, which blew dust and sand from solar panels and the surface of the body apparatus "InSight".



    Thus, the Martian nature itself favors the work of the InSight apparatus on the surface of Mars.







    Photo of sunset in the landing zone of the device:



    Dusty and cloudy:



    on April 6, 2019, the SEIS seismometer recorded, presumably, the first marching shock:



    Here is a recording with the sound:


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