Location and Setting of the Mars InSight Lander, Instruments, and Landing Site
Author
Golombek, MWilliams, N
Warner, N H
Parker, T
Williams, M G
Daubar, I
Calef, F
Grant, J
Bailey, P
Abarca, H
Deen, R
Ruoff, N
Maki, J
McEwen, A
Baugh, N
Block, K
Tamppari, L
Call, J
Ladewig, J
Stoltz, A
Weems, W A
Mora-Sotomayor, L
Torres, J
Johnson, M
Kennedy, T
Sklyanskiy, E
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary LabIssue Date
2020-09-21
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNIONCitation
Golombek, M., Williams, N., Warner, N. H., Parker, T., Williams, M. G., Daubar, I., ... & Sklyanskiy, E. (2020). Location and setting of the Mars InSight lander, instruments, and landing site. Earth and Space Science, 7(10), e2020EA001248.Journal
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCERights
© 2020 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Knowing precisely where a spacecraft lands on Mars is important for understanding the regional and local context, setting, and the offset between the inertial and cartographic frames. For the InSight spacecraft, the payload of geophysical and environmental sensors also particularly benefits from knowing exactly where the instruments are located. A similar to 30 cm/pixel image acquired from orbit after landing clearly resolves the lander and the large circular solar panels. This image was carefully georeferenced to a hierarchically generated and coregistered set of decreasing resolution orthoimages and digital elevation models to the established positive east, planetocentric coordinate system. The lander is located at 4.502384 degrees N, 135.623447 degrees E at an elevation of -2,613.426 m with respect to the geoid in Elysium Planitia. Instrument locations (and the magnetometer orientation) are derived by transforming from Instrument Deployment Arm, spacecraft mechanical, and site frames into the cartographic frame. A viewshed created from 1.5 m above the lander and the high-resolution orbital digital elevation model shows the lander is on a shallow regional slope down to the east that reveals crater rims on the east horizon similar to 400 m and 2.4 km away. A slope up to the north limits the horizon to about 50 m away where three rocks and an eolian bedform are visible on the rim of a degraded crater rim. Azimuths to rocks and craters identified in both surface panoramas and high-resolution orbital images reveal that north in the site frame and the cartographic frame are the same (within 1 degrees).Note
Open access articleISSN
2333-5084PubMed ID
33134434Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2020EA001248
Scopus Count
Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2020 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Related articles
- Identification of the Beagle 2 lander on Mars.
- Authors: Bridges JC, Clemmet J, Croon M, Sims MR, Pullan D, Muller JP, Tao Y, Xiong S, Putri AR, Parker T, Turner SMR, Pillinger JM
- Issue date: 2017 Oct
- Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars.
- Authors: Golombek M, Warner NH, Grant JA, Hauber E, Ansan V, Weitz CM, Williams N, Charalambous C, Wilson SA, DeMott A, Kopp M, Lethcoe-Wilson H, Berger L, Hausmann R, Marteau E, Vrettos C, Trussell A, Folkner W, Le Maistre S, Mueller N, Grott M, Spohn T, Piqueux S, Millour E, Forget F, Daubar I, Murdoch N, Lognonné P, Perrin C, Rodriguez S, Pike WT, Parker T, Maki J, Abarca H, Deen R, Hall J, Andres P, Ruoff N, Calef F, Smrekar S, Baker MM, Banks M, Spiga A, Banfield D, Garvin J, Newman CE, Banerdt WB
- Issue date: 2020 Feb 24
- The surface of Mars: the view from the viking 2 lander.
- Authors: Mutch TA, Grenander SU, Jones KL, Patterson W, Arvidson RE, Guinness EA, Avrin P, Carlston CE, Binder AB, Sagan C, Dunham EW, Fox PL, Pieri DC, Huck FO, Rowland CW, Taylor GR, Wall SD, Kahn R, Levinthal EC, Liebes S Jr, Tucker RB, Morris EC, Pollack JB, Saunders RS, Wolf MR
- Issue date: 1976 Dec 11
- A sophisticated lander for scientific exploration of Mars: scientific objectives and implementation of the Mars-96 Small Station.
- Authors: Linkin V, Harri AM, Lipatov A, Belostotskaja K, Derbunovich B, Ekonomov A, Khloustova L, Kremnev R, Makarov V, Martinov B, Nenarokov D, Prostov M, Pustovalov A, Shustko G, Jarvinen I, Kivilinna H, Korpela S, Kumpulainen K, Lehto A, Pellinen R, Pirjola R, Riihela P, Salminen A, Schmidt W, McKay CP
- Issue date: 1998 Jun-Jul
- Evidence of an oceanic impact and megatsunami sedimentation in Chryse Planitia, Mars.
- Authors: Rodriguez JAP, Robertson DK, Kargel JS, Baker VR, Berman DC, Cohen J, Costard F, Komatsu G, Lopez A, Miyamoto H, Zarroca M
- Issue date: 2022 Dec 1