NASA's InSight sends first picture from Mars surface after safe landing
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The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA's InSight lander, took the picture of the Martian surface on November 26, 2018, the same day the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet.
NASA's InSight spacecraft, the first robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of a distant world, touched down safely on the surface of Mars on Monday with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth.
The landing data and initial photograph were relayed to Earth from two briefcase-sized satellites that were launched along with InSight and were flying past Mars as it reached its destination.
Our Mars Odyssey orbiter phoned home, relaying news from @NASAInSight indicating its solar panels are open & collecting sunlight on the Martian surface. Also in the dispatch: this snapshot from the lander's arm showing the instruments in their new home: https://t.co/WygR5X2Px4 pic.twitter.com/UwzBsu8BNe
— NASA (@NASA) November 27, 2018
The twin "Cubesats" tagging along for the flight to Mars represented the first deep-space use of a miniature satellite technology that space engineers see as a promising low-cost alternative to some larger, more complex vehicles.
The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA's InSight lander, took the picture of the Martian surface on November 26, 2018, the same day the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet.
The camera's transparent dust cover is still on in this image, to prevent particulates kicked up during landing from settling on the camera's lens. This image was relayed from InSight to Earth via NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars.
(With agency inputs)