Mars inSight Mission
Discussion
The lander had been drilling down its heat probe for the last few days. They've hit rock though, so are giving it a rest for a while
It's supposed to be able to dig down as much as 16 feet (5 meters), but they've got down only about 35 cm (14 in).
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8419/mars-insight-lande...
It's supposed to be able to dig down as much as 16 feet (5 meters), but they've got down only about 35 cm (14 in).
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8419/mars-insight-lande...
And even more trouble getting them back out again. Once they got through the fairly loose an uncompacted first inch or so (referred to as the lunar regolith), they hit what seemed like concrete. It seems that the surface of the moon is extremely dense - at least in the Hadley Rille area where Apollo 15 landed.
There is a lot of Apollo 15 video footage on You Tube. Have a look at the sections that cover the "Heat Flow Experiment" and you will see how difficult it was for them to insert the core drills. Later, they had even more difficulty getting the drills back out again. In fact, the NASA medical people were really worried about their heart rates and oxygen usage.
Short video update on InSight after 2 years on the surface
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDS-xw_ECm8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDS-xw_ECm8
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff