Mars InSight Photos: A Timeline to Landing on the Red Planet
Kicking up dust
As InSight touches down on the surface of the Red Planet, it's sure to kick up some dust.
Touchdown
The top of the InSight spacecraft is shown in this artist's rendering, as the lander gets closer to touchdown.
Flat landing ellipse
Once it touches down, the InSight lander will deploy its instruments. A version of the illustration, shown here, depicts the smooth, flat ground that dominates InSight's landing ellipse in Mars' Elysium Planitia region.
Deep under Mars
The InSight lander is designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough check up since it formed 4.5 billion years ago.
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Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.