The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reached the Red Planet Mars and took the first snap ever. The photo — a mosaic stitched together from 11 separate images — shows InSight’s solar panels and its deck laden with science instruments. It might seem us like a pretty plain piece of ground if it weren’t on Mars, but we’re glad to see this…ain’t you.

The photo also shows the dusky red soil of the lander’s new home, a broad plain near the Martian equator known as Elysium Planitia. The $800-million InSight mission will measure the frequency and magnitude of marsquakes and study how heat from deep inside the Red Planet reaches its surface.

Say Cheese! @NASAInSight‘s first #selfie on Mars reveals the lander’s solar panels and deck!
The spacecraft used a camera on its robotic arm to create a mosaic made up of 11 images. Take a peek at Insight’s first complete “workspace” here: https://t.co/Y5C6sCSRZV pic.twitter.com/Orh4DWli3h

— NASA (@NASA) December 13, 2018

“Say Cheese! @NASAInSight’s first #selfie on Mars reveals the lander’s solar panels and deck!
The spacecraft used a camera on its robotic arm to create a mosaic made up of 11 images. Take a peek at Insight’s first complete “workspace” here.”

Great discussion w/ @JimBridenstine & honored to meet so many hardworking members of the @NASA team. @POTUS & I are grateful for their work to implement our renewed commitment to American leadership in space and human space exploration to return to the Moon & then to Mars. pic.twitter.com/kOBMtFX62A

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) December 12, 2018

The Vice President of the United States congratulated the entire NASA team for its tremendous achievement and said through his tweet, “Great discussion with Jim Bridenstine & honored to meet so many hardworking members of the NASA team. POTUS & I are grateful for their work to implement our renewed commitment to American leadership in space and human space exploration to return to the Moon and then to Mars.”

The team also beamed back 52 photos of its immediate environment, which were used to create a mosaic of a 4×7-foot area of the surface directly beside the lander. The area is starkly barren but pockmarked in places. Take a look at the picture below:

We see you @NASAInSight! That little spacecraft on the Red Planet’s surface is our Mars lander in its new home. It was spotted by our Mars Reconaissance Orbiter’s @HiRISE camera and appears teal from reflected light. More photos: https://t.co/JtCsn3dHED pic.twitter.com/TUmBxhF1VC

— NASA (@NASA) December 13, 2018

“We see you @NASAInSight! That little spacecraft on the Red Planet’s surface is our Mars lander in its new home. It was spotted by our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s @HiRISE camera and appears teal from reflected light. More photos.”

The tweeple are going crazy with the pictures, we can’t say what next comes out as fascinating as this one but surely it would be more exciting than this selfie, NASA has been the most successful civilian space program and aerospace research.

Stay hooked with us for all such exciting happenings around the world.

Published by Shifa Naz on 14 Dec 2018