A traveller might have the wish to capture every mesmerising sunrise and every sunset on planet earth. Wee, there could a new additon to that bucket list- sunrise on the red planet- Mars.
Recently, NASA‘s InSight Mars lander shared an incredible, stunning picture it had captured on 10 April. It was the picture of sunrise on Mars. InSight is NASA’s first mission to study the interior of Mars — its crust, mantle, and core — in depth. It has been on Mars since late 2018.
See the picture here
“On April 10, 2022, the 1198th sol (or Martian day) of its mission, our InSight lander took this photo of Martian dawn on the plains of Elysium Planitia.
InSight is NASA’s first mission to study the interior of Mars—its crust, mantle, and core—in depth. With its seismometer and other scientific instruments, InSight has measured hundreds of “Marsquakes“, studied mysterious magnetic pulses, and given us incredible views like this one; what we’re learning from InSight will not only reveal how planets like Mars first formed, it will help us understand the Red Planet’s patterns as we prepare for humans to explore Mars on future NASA missions. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech #NASA #Space #Astronomy #Mars #Sunrise #InSight”
What is InSight?
InSight, which is short for “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport”, is a stationary Mars lander that studies quakes on the planet and its interior. The lander touched down in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars in November 2018. The probe has already completed its primary mission of one full Martian year, which is equal to about 687 days on Earth. It is now in its extended phase with time on its hand to try its photography skills.
InSight studies from Mars
NASA said InSight has measured hundreds of “marsquakes” through its mission. It has also studied mysterious magnetic pulses there and captured incredible views like the Martian sunrise.
“What we’re learning from InSight will not only reveal how planets like Mars first formed, it will help us understand the Red Planet’s patterns as we prepare for humans to explore Mars on future NASA missions,” the agency added.
NASA has also been exploring Mars with the help of its other probes — such as the Perseverance rover and its partner, the Ingenuity helicopter. The rover has been collecting rock samples for a future human mission to collect and bring them back to Earth. All these efforts are aimed at finding signs of ancient or microbial life on Mars and seeing if it can support human habitation, similar to Earth.
Perseverance and Ingenuity are exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars, a dry lake that scientists believe could hold information about possible ancient life.
