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February 24th, 2019
InSight on Sol 87 used the robotic arm-mounted Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) showing placement of HP3. Image acquired on February 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
InSight on Mars Update: The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe (HP3) is ready for action on Monday.
Like a mole with a sensitive tail, HP3 pulls a ribbon-shaped cable behind it that’s jam-packed full of temperature sensors.
“The mole is now free of its fixation that was protecting it until now from any unwanted movements,” reports Tilman Spohn of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research. “It is now ready to go!”
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Spohn, the HP3 principal investigator, adds that there will be a formal review by the operations team on Monday and then the command for the mole to start hammering will be included into the list of commands that will be sent to the lander later in the day.
Hammering operations will then commence at 10 am Local Mars Time which will be Tuesday shortly before 7 pm pacific time. A confirmation of the successful hammering is expected to be at 8:45 am PST.
Posted in Space News
