(Pasadena, CA) — NASA is preparing for its InSight spacecraft to land on Mars. The Mars Insight lander is scheduled to touch down on the Martian surface at 3pm Eastern Monday. The Mars mission will break into the Red Planet’s atmosphere at 12-thousand miles per hour, and will be slowed by retro rockets and a giant parachute as it makes its 77-mile descent to the ground. After landing, the stationary probe will wait 16 minutes for the dust to settle before unfurling the solar panels that will give it power. The landing will take place on a smooth Martian plain close to the planet’s equator. The Insight lander will monitor seismic activity drill 16-feet underground, to give scientists a better understanding of how Mars evolved.
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Alexander Martin
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