The device "InSight" sent a second selfie from Mars

His first self-photograph, the descent scientific apparatus "InSight" made December 6, 2018, ten days after landing on the surface of Mars on November 26, 2018.

Five months of InSight operation on Mars have passed, and now it is possible to evaluate how its appearance changed during this time.

Self-photographs of the InSight machine are obtained at NASA by collecting a mosaic of 14 photographs, which the apparatus itself makes with its camera using a robotic arm 1.8 meters long.

Parameters of the device "InSight":
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- length of 6 meters (with unfolded solar panels);
- width 1.56 meters (equal to the diameter of the central deck)
- deck length from 83 to 108 centimeters;
- length of a robotic arm is 1.8 meters;
- weight 360 kg;
- two solar panels (diameter of 2.2 meters each).

The estimated duration of the mission of the “InSight” apparatus is 709 Martian days (158 such days have already passed) or 728 Earth days (almost two Earth years).

Sol is a Martian day. They are slightly longer than the earth and are 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35.244 seconds. The year on Mars is equal to 669.56 “salts” or 686.94 Earth days.

The first selfie photo of the “InSight” device dated December 6, 2018

The “InSight” is clean, free of dust and sand on the solar panels and the hull, and on its central deck you can see two research instruments: a set of seismometers and a buryable thermal probe, which were only being prepared by the apparatus for use on Mars.

The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) seismometer was designed to study the internal structure of Mars, study the ground oscillations (marsh-tremors), determine the depth and composition of its layers.

The device for measuring the heat flux Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is designed to measure the heat flux below the surface of Mars.

The second selfie photo of the “InSight” device dated May 6, 2019

On the “InSight” device a thin layer of dust and sand is already visible, which in five months covered the device. The central part of the “InSight” device is empty. Scientific instruments (thermal sensor and seismometer) are already on the surface of Mars and perform research.

The InSight device unloaded them outside with his robot arm:

- the seismometer was unloaded on the surface of Mars on December 19, 2018 at a distance of 1.6 meters from the landing platform;

Installing a protective cap on the seismometer:

- a probe to measure the heat flux under the surface of Mars (penetration up to 5 meters into the surface with the help of an integrated drill) was unloaded onto the surface of Mars on February 12, 2019 at a distance of 1 meter from the landing platform.

There are even some measurement results already obtained using the HP3 heat flow probe.

Comparison of photos - here is a link to the NASA website. :

Solar panels of the “InSight” device are covered with dust:

On the left - December 10, 2018, on the right - March 31, 2019:

Moreover, this is not the first layer of dust and sand that the InSight apparatus covers. On February 1, 2019, a dusty whirlwind (Martian dusty devil) was fixed over the landing site of the InSight apparatus, which blew away dust and sand from the solar panels and the surface of the case apparatus "InSight".