Mars looks like a dusty wasteland in the first photo from NASA’s InSight lander sent from the surface of the red planet.
The image, taken moments after landing, shows the rust-colored surface of Mars from InSight’s perspective through a fisheye lens.
The photo looks particularly obscured because the camera still has its dust-covered protective covering on it, according to NASA.
“InSight’s view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars’ deep interior,” NASA said in a tweet.
It’s pretty incredible that we already have a photo from InSight back on Earth, and it’s all thanks to two tiny satellites sent to Mars with the spacecraft.
The two small MarCO satellites beamed back data to mission controllers throughout InSights picture-perfect landing on Mars, allowing NASA to follow along with the spacecraft’s descent to the surface.
“We’ve studied Mars from orbit and from the surface since 1965, learning about its weather, atmosphere, geology and surface chemistry,” NASA’s acting director of the planetary science division Lori Glaze said in a statement.
“Now we finally will explore inside Mars and deepen our understanding of our terrestrial neighbor as NASA prepares to send human explorers deeper into the solar system.”
InSight is designed to gather as much data as it can about the mysterious interior of Mars.
The spacecraft’s instruments will gather data about how Mars formed by looking below its surface and mapping the planet’s interior.
But before any of that, NASA needs to be sure that InSight has unfurled its solar panels and its charging itself. That confirmation should come through in the next few hours, if all goes according to plan.
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see and marvel at our newest emissary on Mars.
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