As NASA’s InSight spacecraft touches down on the Red Planet on November 26, people from around the world will be able to watch the event live on NASA Television, the agency’s website and social media platforms, including on YouTube, the US space agency said.
About 80 live viewing events for the public to watch the InSight landing will take place around the world, NASA said on Tuesday. It will be at 3 p.m. EST meaning 1.30 a.m. in India on November 27.
Launched on May 5, Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander marks NASA’s first Mars landing since the Curiosity rover in 2012.
The landing will kick off a two-year mission in which InSight will become the first spacecraft to study Mars’ deep interior, NASA said.
Its data also will help scientists understand the formation of all rocky worlds, including our own.
InSight is being followed to Mars by two mini-spacecraft comprising NASA’s Mars Cube One (MarCO), the first deep-space mission for CubeSats.
If MarCO makes its planned Mars flyby, it will attempt to relay data from InSight as it enters the planet’s atmosphere and lands.
InSight and MarCO flight controllers will monitor the spacecraft’s entry, descent and landing from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where all landing events will take place.
The YouTube channel for watching the event is https://www.youtube.com/NASAJPL/live.