Spacecraft lands on Mars

Pasadena – Cheers and applause erupted at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory yesterday as a $993 million unmanned lander, called InSight, touched down on the Red Planet and managed to send back its first picture.

The high-drama landing of the waist-high spacecraft capped a nearly seven-year journey, from spacecraft design, to launch to eventual touchdown, marking the eighth successful landing on Mars in Nasa history.

“Touchdown confirmed,” a mission control operator at Nasa said, as pent-up excitement surged through the room, and dozens of scientists leapt from their seats to embrace each other.

The vehicle appeared to be in good shape. Next, InSight must open its solar arrays, as Nasa waits until later to learn if that final, crucial phase also went as planned.