InSight lander spotted from space

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- In a series of new photos captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, InSight, NASA's newest Martian lander, can be seen on Elysium Planitia.

It's the first time the lander has been spotted from space since InSight touched down late last month.

MRO's powerful camera, HiRISE, snapped photos of InSight on Dec. 6 and Dec. 11. The lander, as well as its discarded heat shield and parachute, can be seen in the birds-eye photographs released Friday by NASA.

In the images, the lander appears a bright green due to light reflecting off InSight's instrument suite. In one of the images, a dark ring surrounding the lander is visible. The ring was made by InSight's thrusters, which helped slow the spacecraft's descent. In another one of the images, the lander's two extended solar panels can be seen forming a heart-like shape.

Earlier this week, InSight used its own camera to snap its first selfie, though the image shared by NASA actually featured 12 selfies stitched together by scientists back on Earth.

In the coming weeks, InSight will deploy its two main instruments.

One of those two instruments is the craft's seismometer. Once deployed, it will be the first seismometer to be placed directly on the surface of Mars. For the next two years, InSight will stay perfectly still while the domed instrument listens to the seismic waves traveling through Mars.

After the seismometer is positioned, InSight's robotic arm will hammer its 16-foot-heat probe into Mars' crust. The probe will help scientists track the flow of heat through Mars' interior.