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NASA will stream live coverage of the attempt today to land the InSight spacecraft on Mars, starting at 11 a.m. Pacific time. The touchdown is planned for noon PST.
It is the U.S. space agency’s first attempt to land on Mars in six years.
Earth’s success rate at Mars is 40 percent, counting every attempted flyby, orbital flight and landing by the U.S., Russia and other countries dating back to 1960. But the U.S. has pulled off seven successful Mars landings in the past three decades. With only one failed touchdown, it’s an enviable record. No other country has managed to operate a spacecraft on the planet.
If the landing is successful, it is hoped that the 800-pound InSight will then place on the Martian surface a seismometer and a “mechanical mole” that will burrow 16 feet into the soil to collect data.
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