Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The exploration of our solar system is in full force with the likes of NASA, SpaceX and other space agencies of the world launching mission after mission to all parts of the Solar System.

Currently, Mars seems to be the most focused place, with many aiming for even its colonisation for a potential Earth 2.0 to expand our presence in the cosmos.

This could start as early as 2020s when SpaceX plans to send humans to Mars for the first time ever. That is some ways into the future though. For now, the big news coming out of NASA is that they have landed a lander called InSight on Mars.

This brings us a step closer to understanding the red planet in ways that were not possible before.

Studying The Interior of Mars

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The mission was launched on 5 May, 2018 and after six and a half months of travel, InSight landed yesterday on 26 November at the Elysium Planitia landing site on Mars.

Unlike the other rovers landed on Mars by NASA, InSight is a stationery robotic lander that will study the deep interiors of the red planet. The name InSight stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.

Thanks to the high tech instruments onboard, InSight will study how rocky planets like Mars formed more than 4 billion years ago. They will also be able to help estimate the size of Mars' core and if its core is liquid or a solid.

The data gathered will also help scientists gain some insight on any seismic activity on the planet (important for any future settlements) and the effects of meteorite impacts on the planet which could also help us better understand the same processes back here on Earth.

We will have to wait 3 months for the data though as that is the time the instruments onboard will be deployed to begin studying the planet.