When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it put to work .
Lift-Off
The InSight lander uprise off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base , California , on May 5 , 2018 , at 4:05 a.m. PDT ( 7:05 a.m. EDT ) .
Sky trail
This image shows the trail of NASA ’s Mars InSight lander over the Los Angeles sphere after plunge from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California on May 5 , 2018 . This is a stack of exposures taken from Mt. Wilson .
Meticulous navigation
This exemplification show the route InSight take to get to Mars . InSight travel less than halfway around the sun before turn over Mars . After the lander left the rocket ’s protective fairing , missionary work navigators pointed the lander toward Mars , and then assure that it travel to the ripe peak above the Martian standard atmosphere for landing .
MarCo
The twin MarCOs , show here in an creative person ’s rendition , will convey information to Earth about the landing place of InSight . They are show here fly over Mars with Earth in the distance . The duplicate MarCos will be the first CubeSats flown in thick space , according to NASA .
Selfie
This long - vulnerability prototype , taken over 24 seconds , was beguile by Instrument Context Camera of NASA ’s InSight Mars lander . The mental image shows some of the midland features of the backshell that encapsulates the space vehicle . The backshell carries the parachute and several components used during later stages of entry , descent , and landing . Along with the heat shield , the backshell protects NASA ’s InSight Mars lander during its commute to and entranceway into the Martian atmosphere .
Dusty landing
This map shows the temperature of the Martian atmosphere 16 miles ( 26 km ) above the surface . This temperature tells scientists the amount of dust activity in the standard atmosphere . NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter collected the entropy on Nov. 18 , 2018 , about a week before InSight was scheduled to touch down on the Martian surface .
Martian cruise
This creative person ’s conception shows the InSight spacecraft , encapsulate in its aeroshell , as it cruises to Mars .
6 minutes of terror
" InSight ’s descent will be an especially brass - wreck nail - biter for NASA : Mission mastery wo n’t have any idea what ’s happening to the ballistic capsule in actual clip , due to the minutes - long hold in the wiliness ’s transmission sign , " Live Science reported .
Parachute descent
This illustration shows a simulated view of NASA ’s InSight lander descending toward the surface of Mars on its parachute .
Retro-rockets
In this simulated view , NASA ’s InSight lander fires retrorockets to slow up down as it descends toward the open of Mars .
