InSight: the story

1. InSight

   NASA Discovery Program #12 · 2018 – 2022

   While other landers looked for water on the surface, InSight looked down—into the deep interior of Mars. It listened with seismometers sensitive enough to detect ground tremors smaller than a hydrogen atom.

2. First West Coast interplanetary launch

   May 2018 · Vandenberg SLC-3E

   Launched from California fog aboard an Atlas V rocket, flanked by twin briefcase-sized CubeSats—MarCO-A and MarCO-B ('Wall-E' and 'Eve')—the first CubeSats ever sent into deep space to relay landing signals in real time.

3. Homestead Hollow

   26 November 2018 · 19:52 UTC

   InSight touched down in western Elysium Planitia inside a smooth, sand-filled 27-meter hollow. Its twin UltraFlex solar wings unfurled into 6-meter decagons, powering up its sensitive electronics.

4. Hearing the Martian wind

   Sol 4 · 1 December 2018

   Before its instruments touched the ground, low-frequency air pressure and seismic sensors recorded 5 to 7 m/s breezes vibrating the solar panels like giant eardrums—the first authentic audio of Martian wind ever captured.

5. First robotic arm placement

   19 December 2018 · Sol 22

   For the first time in planetary exploration, a robotic arm reached out with a five-fingered claw, lifted a primary science instrument off the deck, and placed SEIS directly onto the soil, later covering it with a white wind shield.

6. The first confirmed Marsquake

   6 April 2019 · Sol 128

   A faint seismic rumble vibrated through the crust: the first confirmed marsquake in history. Over four years, SEIS detected 1,319 quakes, revealing a 1,830-kilometer liquid iron core and a crust 24 to 72 km thick.

7. The duricrust struggle

   2019–2021 · The Mole

   The German HP³ heat probe, 'The Mole', attempted to hammer 5 meters deep, but encountered an unexpected 20-centimeter cemented duricrust. After two years of robotic arm scoop pinning, engineers successfully buried it 37 cm deep.

8. The magnitude 4.7 monster quake

   4 May 2022 · Sol 1222

   A massive seismic rupture originating 2,200 kilometers away reverberated globally through the Martian crust for six continuous hours—the largest quake ever recorded on another world.

9. The dust blanket

   15 December 2022 · Sol 1440

   Years of dust storms caked the UltraFlex wings in thick red regolith, reducing power below survival levels. InSight sent a final photo of its dusty instruments on Sol 1429 and fell silent after Sol 1440, carrying 2.4 million human names into eternity.

NASA Discovery Program #12 · 2018 – 2022

InSight

While other landers looked for water on the surface, InSight looked down—into the deep interior of Mars. It listened with seismometers sensitive enough to detect ground tremors smaller than a hydrogen atom.

May 2018 · Vandenberg SLC-3E

First West Coast interplanetary launch

Launched from California fog aboard an Atlas V rocket, flanked by twin briefcase-sized CubeSats—MarCO-A and MarCO-B ('Wall-E' and 'Eve')—the first CubeSats ever sent into deep space to relay landing signals in real time.

26 November 2018 · 19:52 UTC

Homestead Hollow

InSight touched down in western Elysium Planitia inside a smooth, sand-filled 27-meter hollow. Its twin UltraFlex solar wings unfurled into 6-meter decagons, powering up its sensitive electronics.

Sol 4 · 1 December 2018

Hearing the Martian wind

Before its instruments touched the ground, low-frequency air pressure and seismic sensors recorded 5 to 7 m/s breezes vibrating the solar panels like giant eardrums—the first authentic audio of Martian wind ever captured.

19 December 2018 · Sol 22

First robotic arm placement

For the first time in planetary exploration, a robotic arm reached out with a five-fingered claw, lifted a primary science instrument off the deck, and placed SEIS directly onto the soil, later covering it with a white wind shield.

6 April 2019 · Sol 128

The first confirmed Marsquake

A faint seismic rumble vibrated through the crust: the first confirmed marsquake in history. Over four years, SEIS detected 1,319 quakes, revealing a 1,830-kilometer liquid iron core and a crust 24 to 72 km thick.

2019–2021 · The Mole

The duricrust struggle

The German HP³ heat probe, 'The Mole', attempted to hammer 5 meters deep, but encountered an unexpected 20-centimeter cemented duricrust. After two years of robotic arm scoop pinning, engineers successfully buried it 37 cm deep.

4 May 2022 · Sol 1222

The magnitude 4.7 monster quake

A massive seismic rupture originating 2,200 kilometers away reverberated globally through the Martian crust for six continuous hours—the largest quake ever recorded on another world.

15 December 2022 · Sol 1440

The dust blanket

0quakestotal marsquakes detected

Years of dust storms caked the UltraFlex wings in thick red regolith, reducing power below survival levels. InSight sent a final photo of its dusty instruments on Sol 1429 and fell silent after Sol 1440, carrying 2.4 million human names into eternity.

RoverVilla / InSight

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01 / 9 · NASA Discovery Program #12 · 2018 – 2022InSight's First Selfie · NASA/JPL-Caltech

201820192022

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