InSight entering the Martian atmosphere (artist impression)
InSight entering the Martian atmosphere (artist impression)
After the cruise stage is jettisoned, the landing probe will enter the Martian atmosphere at 20:47 CET at a speed of 3600 kilometres per hour. An intervention in the landing process is not possible: Since it takes a signal from Earth to reach Mars 8 minutes and 6 seconds, the landing will have already taken place by the time the last signal from InSight before entering the atmosphere reaches Earth. The probe will reach the surface seven minutes after atmospheric entry. About half a minute after entering the atmosphere, the friction of the gas molecules of the high atmosphere will cause the heat shield to begin to glow at the tip at a temperature of about 1500 degrees Celsius and then cool again. Peak deceleration will happen about 2 minutes after atmospheric entry 15 seconds later, at up to 7.5 g. Before the parachute is deployed, friction between the atmosphere and the heat shield will remove nearly 99.5 percent of the entry vehicle’s kinetic energy.
