InSight Mars lander touches down on the Red Planet

The NASA Mars lander InSight streaked into the planet's thin atmosphere on Monday and successfully landed ahead of a two-year mission to explore the Red Planet's interior. InSight is the first geological mission to Mars, and over two years it will measure seismic activity, measure the planet’s magnetic field and take Mars's interior temperature.

NASA's Insight probe will be the first to study the deep interior of Mars, if it lands safely. Source: AAP

Flight controllers announced that the spacecraft InSight had touched down just before 7am AEDT, after a perilous supersonic descent through the red Martian skies.

Tweeting right after landing InSight offered the following eerie words from the alien world: “I feel you Mars … and soon I’ll know your heart. With this safe landing, I’m here. I’m home.”

InSight also shared the first picture from Mars on Twitter saying: “My lens cover isn’t off yet, but I just had to show you a first look at my new home.”

InSight it’s the first spacecraft built to explore the deep interior of another world, carrying instruments to detect planetary heat and seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but earth.

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