After blasting across our solar system for seven months, NASA鈥檚 InSight spacecraft opened its parachute and gently landed on a vast, dusty plain on Mars on Monday.
The journey from Earth to the red planet stretched 458 million kilometres 鈥� the equivalent of travelling from Toronto to Montreal 846,580 times. But the $1-billion project began long before the spacecraft blasted off from California.
Here鈥檚 a look back at how InSight pulled off the ambitious mission to Mars.
August 6, 2012: The last spacecraft to travel to Mars, NASA鈥檚 car-sized Curiosity rover, successfully lands. Equipped with an arsenal of tools, Curiosity is tasked with collecting organic samples on the planet鈥檚 surface in hopes of determining whether Mars ever supported life.
August 2012: NASA decides to develop and launch InSight. The plan is to create a robotic lander capable of studying the deep interior of Mars.
May 2014: Lockheed Martin begins construction on the lander.
March 9, 2016: NASA pushes back InSight鈥檚 launch date to May 2018.
Feb. 28, 2018: InSight is flown from Colorado to California, where preparations begin for the launch.
Just arrived in California at Vandenberg AFB , my home for the next 65 days before my launch on May 5 on a Atlas V rocket ��More:
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
May 5, 2018: InSight launches before sunrise from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A powerful Atlas V-401 rocket blasts the craft into space.
This was the 1st interplanetary launch from the California coast. More about my mission to study the heart of :
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
May 14, 2018: InSight detaches from the rocket.
Breaking up is hard to do . . . but not if you鈥檙e Marsbound! Even though my Atlas V-401 ride was cozy, I had to separate from my rocket to continue my path to . Now I鈥檓 settling in for the six-month trip. Watch my separation:
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
August 5, 2018: Hurtling through space at a speed of nearly 10,000 kilometres per hour, InSight marks the halfway point in its journey.
I'm HALFWAY to ! I'm traveling at a speed of ~6,200 mph. My total trip is ~300 million miles. I鈥檒l land on Mars Nov. 26, 2018. Learn more about my trip:
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
2:52 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018: InSight successfully lands on the dusty surface of Mars. At NASA headquarters, anxious scientists celebrate.
I'm flying through the Martian atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour. It's really heating up outside (like 2,700 degrees F/1,500 C)! �� Thankfully my heat shield is designed to keep me cool and comfortable. Watch LIVE:
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
Time to fire up my rockets for final descent. Less than a minute to touchdown!
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
6:30 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 27, 2018: InSight snaps a selfie and beams it back to Earth. The photo shows the expansive Martian landscape and rosy-pink horizon. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a quiet beauty here,鈥� NASA tweeted from InSight鈥檚 Twitter account. 鈥淟ooking forward to exploring my new home.鈥�
There鈥檚 a quiet beauty here. Looking forward to exploring my new home.
鈥� NASAInSight (@NASAInSight)
