Mars InSight Mission
Skip Navigation
menu

INSIGHT MISSION IMAGES

InSight Lifts Off 3

The NASA InSight spacecraft launches onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket, Saturday, May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 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.

May 05, 2018

The NASA InSight spacecraft launches onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket, Saturday, May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 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.

Credits

NASA/Bill Ingalls

ENLARGE

Related

This graph shows how the amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars varies depending on the season.
More
Graph shows amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars
Seasonal Water on Mars (Illustration)
Technicians at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado installed a microchip with 1.6 million names submitted by the public to ride along with NASA’s InSight mission to Mars. 
More
Technicians at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado installed a microchip with 1.6 million names submitted by the public to ride along with NASA’s InSight mission to Mars.
InSight's second microchip
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took this image of Mars from about 10,900 miles (17,500 kilometers) away just after NASA’s InSight spacecraft landed on Mars on Nov....
More
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took this image of Mars from about 10,900 miles (17,500 kilometers) away just after NASA’s InSight spacecraft landed on Mars on Nov. 26, 2018.
Away from Mars, With Reflection
This prototype base for SHIELD – a collapsible Mars lander that would enable a spacecraft to intentionally crash land on the Red Planet, absorbing the impact – was tested in a drop tower at JPL on ...
More
This prototype base for SHIELD – a collapsible Mars lander that would enable a spacecraft to intentionally crash land on the Red Planet, absorbing the impact – was tested in a drop tower at JPL on Aug. 12 to replicate the impact it would encounter landing on Mars.
SHIELD Prototype Attached to Drop Tower
This artist's concept shows the InSight lander, its sensors, cameras and instruments.
More
This artist's concept shows the InSight lander, its sensors, cameras and instruments.
The InSight Lander
This rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars. Cool colors are closer to the surface than warm colors; black zones indicate areas where a spacecraft would sink into fine dust; the ou...
More
This rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars.
A Water Ice Map for Mars
This image of the flight model of NASA’s Mars Helicopter was taken on Feb. 14, 2019, in a cleanroom at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
More
An image of the flight model of NASA’s Mars Helicopter.
Portrait of NASA's Mars Helicopter
Anniversary artwork of NASA Viking 1 and Viking 2 Landers and Orbiters against an American flag. Infographic text: Viking 1976. 40th anniversary. #viking40
More
Anniversary artwork of NASA Viking 1 and Viking 2 Landers and Orbiters against an American flag. Infographic text: Viking 1976. 40th anniversary. #viking40
Viking 40 Year Anniversary Artwork: American Flag
Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touc...
More
Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touching down on Mars.
Jezero Crater's Ancient Lakeshore
NASA’s InSight lander team enjoyed this Mars-shaped cake on the first anniversary of the spacecraft’s Nov. 26, 2018, landing. The cake came complete with its own inner layers – just like the Red Pl...
More
NASA’s InSight lander team enjoyed this Mars-shaped cake on the first anniversary of the spacecraft’s Nov. 26, 2018, landing. The cake came complete with its own inner layers – just like the Red Planet.
InSight's Mars Birthday Cake
Interact with this 3D model of Deimos.
More
3D model of Deimos
Deimos - Mars Moon, 3D Model
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows ice-rich clouds over the summit of Arsia Mons.
More
This is an image of ice-rich clouds in false color, taken by the Odyssey satellite orbiting Mars.
Ice-Rich Clouds - False Color
This HiRISE image shows a mixture of bright and dark units. The bright units have a mineral called sulfate (salty sulfuric acid) that on Earth typically forms in the presence of water as an evapori...
More
This HiRISE image shows a mixture of bright and dark units.
Jumbled Terrain in Ius Chasma (3-D)
This image, taken in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 23, 2019, shows a close-up of the head of Mars 2020's remote sen...
More
This image, taken in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 23, 2019, shows a close-up of the head of Mars 2020's remote sensing mast.
The Tippy Top of Mars 2020
"Yogi" is a meter-size rock about 5 meters northwest of the Mars Pathfinder lander and was the second rock visited by the Sojourner Rover's alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument. This v...
More
"Yogi" is a meter-size rock about 5 meters northwest of the Mars Pathfinder lander and was the second rock visited by the Sojourner Rover's alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument
Yogi in Super Resolution from Super Panorama
Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of early August 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has col...
More
Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign.
Meet the Mars Samples: Atmo Mountain and Crosswind Lake (Samples 17 and 18)
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a meteoroid impact that was later associated with a seismic event detected by the agency’s InSight lander using its seismometer. This crate...
More
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a meteoroid impact that was later associated with a seismic event detected by the agency’s InSight lander using its seismometer. This crater was formed on May 27, 2020.
InSight-Detected Impact in May 2020
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity edged 3.7 meters (12 feet) closer to the top of the "Duck Bay" alcove along the rim of "Victoria Crater" during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (overnight Sept. ...
More
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity edged 3.7 meters (12 feet) closer to the top of the "Duck Bay" alcove along the rim of "Victoria Crater" during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (overnight Sept. 27 to Sept. 28), and gained this vista of the crater
'Victoria Crater' from 'Duck Bay' (Stereo)
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured these sand ripples and the large dune (at center) on Feb. 9, 2009. Color has been a...
More
sand ripples and a large dune on Mars
HiRISE Finds a Dune and Ripples
These craters were formed by a Sept. 5, 2021, meteoroid impact on Mars, the first to be detected by NASA’s InSight. Taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, this enhanced-color image highlights...
More
These craters were formed by a Sept. 5, 2021, meteoroid impact on Mars, the first to be detected by NASA’s InSight.
InSight Detects an Impact for the First Time
Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of late June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collec...
More
Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign.
Meet the Mars Samples: Ha'ahóni and Atsá (Samples 8 and 9)
This image shows the transitional terrain where the linear troughs and rounded pits of an area called "Noctis Labyrinthus" merge with the larger canyon of "Valles Marineris." Unusual bright blocks ...
More
An image of the transitional terrain where the linear troughs and rounded pits of an area called "Noctis Labyrinthus" merge with the larger canyon of "Valles Marineris."
Bright and Dark Terrain in Noctis Labyrinthus (3-D)
The Mastcam-Z imager on NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a series of images on July 6 that were stitched together to show a field of boulders deposited in Jezero Crater by a fast-moving ancient r...
More
The Mastcam-Z imager on NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a series of images on July 6 that were stitched together to show a field of boulders deposited in Jezero Crater by a fast-moving ancient river.
Perseverance Views Jezero Boulder Field
While in the landed configuration for the last time before arriving on Mars, NASA's InSight lander was commanded to deploy its solar arrays to test and verify the exact process that it will use on ...
More
While in the landed configuration for the last time before arriving on Mars, NASA's InSight lander was commanded to deploy its solar arrays to test and verify the exact process that it will use on the surface of the Red Planet.
InSight Lander Solar Array Test
Where should you land a spacecraft? NASA-JPL scientist Ingrid Daubar helped find the best parking spot on Mars for the upcoming NASA InSight lander.
More
Inside InSight: Scientist Helps Choose a Landing Site on Mars
Inside InSight: Scientist Helps Choose a Landing Site on Mars

You Might Also Like

The agency is asking the NASA community to work together to develop a revised plan that leverages innovation and proven technology.
More
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA has proven powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds, just as the Wright brothers proved it was possible on Earth.
More
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
The agency established the board in May 2023 to evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.
More
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
A pair of quakes in 2021 sent seismic waves deep into the Red Planet’s core, giving scientists the best data yet on its size and composition.
More
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface