NASA's New InSight Lander Beams Back Its First Photo of Mars

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Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It's not like Mars hasn't gotten a lot of attention from NASA over the years - there have been four previous rover missions to the Red Planet - but there's a new kid on the block now in the form of the NASA InSight Lander.

InSight touched down yesterday after a perilous journey of 33.9 million miles.

The first clear image taken by InSight was tweeted out just hours later:

As you can see, the Martian surface looks, well, inviting!

There's no dust storm at the moment, and the quiet tranquility seems worthy of exploring.

Speaking of exploring, InSight landed in the Elysium Planitia, a wide plane on the equator of Mars where the lander will explore its surroundings, listen for "Marsquakes," and try to determine how many meteors strike the Red Planet. 

For a detailed description of what happens next for InSight, check out this article by CNET.

Image courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Even though the Mars Curiosity Rover has been sending back breathtaking images for the last six years (like the one above), it's still exciting to have a fresh set of eyes in a different area of Mars.

I, for one, can't wait to see what sort of remarkable photos InSight is able to take.

And that got me thinking...

If I were to go to Mars, what kind of gear would I take?

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Image Credit: Vac1 via iStock

I'm pretty fond of my Nikon D850, though I imagine the powers that be would want lighter weight gear.

Perhaps a Sony a7R III instead??

I think the toughest choice would be what lenses to take.

Image Credit: xxmmxx via iStock

If I rocked the Sony, a 24-70mm f/2.8 would be nice, but I'd also want a 70-200mm zoom and a couple of primes as well - maybe something like a 24mm to get sweeping shots of the Martian surface.

Whatever the gear one would use, how cool would it be to walk around Mars and take photos?!

Talk about the photography trip of a lifetime!

Stay tuned for more details about InSight's explorations and for updates about the photos NASA's new "photographer" beams back. In the meantime, be sure to visit the NASA InSight mission page to see what Insight is up to.

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Via CNET