Four Days Later, A Checkup on NASA's InSight on Mars

It's time to get a checkup on InSight, the latest spacecraft to successfully land on Mars. In case you missed it, this was how Monday afternoon was for NASA scientists... https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1067171099287347208 A lot has happened since then. "A lot" in space time is much different from 'a lot' in our Earth time. We can cram a lot into a day here on Earth. However tasks must be taken slowly and surely beyond our atmosphere to ensure that the mission is successful. DAY 1 - MONDAY Landing day for InSight. https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1067172157732659200 Some of the first images from InSight on Mars looked like this: https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1067244283688669184 InSight then deployed its solar panels (acting as its energy and electricity) to power it for its mission. https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1067258215501447168 DAY 2 - TUESDAY InSight went through status checkups, routine maintenance, and enjoyed the sun rays to help charge up some battery life. https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1067532255042592768 DAY 3 - WEDNESDAY More 'arms' were deployed off of InSight. https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1068015524553023488 DAY 4 - THURSDAY Selfie time. Well perhaps not a selfie to instantly post to Instagram, but rather send back to Earth. The near-term goal will be to find a good spot to begin InSight's mission(s). Here's part of the summary from NASA:

"In the coming days, the mission team will unstow InSight's robotic arm and use the attached camera to snap photos of the ground so that engineers can decide where to place the spacecraft's scientific instruments. It will take two to three months before those instruments are fully deployed and sending back data.

In the meantime, InSight will use its weather sensors and magnetometer to take readings from its landing site at Elysium Planitia — its new home on Mars."

What's next? You can check out all of the "InSight" on this program and mission via this link below: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/ For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier