Article 43QY2 InSight lander touches down on Mars – as it happened

InSight lander touches down on Mars – as it happened

by
Adam Gabbatt
from on (#43QY2)

Joy and cheering at Nasa as Insight lander touches down on the red planet: 'Touchdown confirmed!'

9.45pm GMT

Well that all went smoothly. InSight touched down on Mars at 2.52:59pm ET, a successful landing after an almost seven-month journey through deep space.

The probe immediately went to work, aiming to activate its solar panels before beginning the weeks-long process of setting instruments in place.

Related: Nasa's Mars InSight probe touches down on Mars

9.33pm GMT

Over at Space.com writer Lee Cavendish has some good background information on what the InSight mission is aiming to achieve:

About 4.5 billion years ago, the eight planets of our solar system were formed. All eight planets were formed from a clumpy disk of rock, ice and debris orbiting the young sun.

Fast-forward to the present and we now see a distinct difference between the inner and outer planets. The terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) all have a dense, rocky structure, with only one able to support life.

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