Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager, NASA JPL, left, and Sue Smrekar, InSight deputy principal investigator, NASA JPL, react after receiving confirmation that the Mars InSight lander successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 inside the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
This is the first image taken by NASA's InSight lander on the surface of Mars. The instrument context camera (ICC) mounted below the lander deck obtained this image on Nov. 26, 2018, shortly after landing. The transparent lens cover was still in place to protect the lens from any dust kicked up during landing. › Full image and caption.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA's InSight lander, took this picture of the Martian surface on Nov. 26, 2018, the same day the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet. The camera's transparent dust cover is still on in this image, to prevent particulates kicked up during landing from settling on the camera's lens. › Full image and caption.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechNASA's newest Mars mission, the InSight lander, touched down on the Red Planet just before noon PST on Nov. 26. But there's more work ahead before the mission can get a look into the inner workings of Mars. Get your classroom ready to partake in all the excitement of NASA’s InSight mission with this educator game plan. We’ve got everything you need to engage students in NASA's ongoing exploration of Mars!
Day Before Landing
- Read NASA/JPL Edu’s Teachable Moment, “NASA’s ‘Cyber Monday’ Mars Landing to Deliver Science Firsts,” to get a preview of the engineering and science involved in landing InSight and placing its instruments on Mars. Explore the related activities and resources in the “Teach It” and “Explore More” sections.
Landing Day (Nov. 26)
- Check out The Oatmeal’s webcomic for an explainer of how the InSight mission will land on Mars, what it will do on the planet and what it's hoping to find out.
- Watch these fun, one-minute videos for a quick overview of how landing sites are chosen, how spacecraft get to Mars, and what it takes to land there.
- Have students read about JPL’s “landing-site dude” and his rotating cast of interns, who have helped select seven of NASA’s Mars landing sites – including InSight’s!
- Have students read the JPL news release “How Will We Know When InSight Touches Down?”
- Watch live commentary as a class and follow along on the InSight Mission Blog, as well as Facebook and Twitter (@NASAInSight, @NASAJPL and @NASA) using #MarsLanding.
Next Day
- Review the Teachable Moment to find out what needs to happen before InSight’s science operations can begin. Then create an instructional plan with these lessons, activities and resources that get students engaged in the science and engineering behind the mission.
- Check out InSight’s first images from Mars, here. (This is also where you can find raw images from InSight throughout the life of the mission.)
Over the Next Month
- Watch these “Mars in a Minute” videos to find out what InSight is hoping to learn on the Red Planet: “What’s Inside Mars?” “Are There Quakes on Mars?” And “How Did Mars Get Such Enormous Mountains?”
- Have students explore NASA’s Experience InSight interactive to learn about InSight’s science instruments and how each will be deployed to the surface of Mars.
- Follow along on the InSight Mission Blog and @NASAInSight social media over the next few weeks as NASA gets to work surveying the landing site and determining where to place each of the instruments.
- Try the lessons and activities below with students to get them doing some of the same science and engineering as InSight:
