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NASA's InSight lander proves it's on Mars with a selfie
Next time you can't find the perfect angle for your selfie, just thank the universe you're not NASA's InSight lander. The spacecraft had to take 11 images with a camera attached to its robotic arm and then stitch them together to create its first self-portrait. InSight clearly took a cue from the Curiosity rover, which has years of experience taking composite selfies with the Martian landscape as its background. You can clearly see InSight's solar panels on full display in the photo, which was captured on December 6th, along with some of its science instruments.
NASA's InSight lander delivers its first clear photo from Mars
Earlier today the InSight lander successfully touched down on Mars, and it's already crushing the 'gram. Signals indicating that its solar panels had opened and were generating power came back to Earth at about 8:30 PM ET, along with a few photographs relayed via another visitor to Mars: the Odyssey orbiter. While it's expected to take two to three months to fully deploy the lander's instruments, this image came from its Instrument Deployment Camera which is mounted on a robotic arm.
NASA's InSight lander is on its way to Mars
The first NASA mission that will look into the Martian interior is now on its way to the red planet. NASA's Mars InSight lander has launched on top of a ULA Atlas V rocket and is a historic launch in several ways. In addition to being the agency's first spacecraft to study the Martian subsurface, it's NASA's first lander since the Phoenix arrived on the planet in 2008. The Curiosity followed the Phoenix four years later, but as we all know, the car-sized spacecraft that loves taking selfies is a rover.
