It is now less than 12 hours until NASA’s InSight MIssion lands on the surface of Mars at Elysium Planitia.  Launched on the 5 May, 2018, the lander will enter the Martian atmosphere at approximately 7am Eastern Australian time.   A focus of the mission will be investigating the subsurface structure of the planet.  You can read more about the mission including the mission timelines, landing site, scientific goals and instrumentation on the NASA Insight MIssion Homepage.  A former Melbournian, engineer Mark Fittock helped develop some of the intruments. 

Commenting on the mission’s goals, MSA President Dr Jonathan Clarke said “InSight is a joint mission between NASA and a number of European space agencies to obtain long awaited data on the Martian interior. These data will help us understand the large scale structure and evolution on Mars, and how tectonically active.”

Dr Jonathan Clarke is available for media interviews on 0418401612.

MSA Vice-president Earl White is also avaiable for media comments on 0407021171.