The NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the recently landed InSight Rover on the Mars Surface. The InSight rover was landed a few weeks ago on the planet, but the exact pinpoint location was not known due to multiple factors. The lander reached on the surface of Mars on November 26th successfully. It was supposed to land in the elliptical volcanic plane of 130 kilometers, but the NASA scientists were unable to pinpoint the exact location of the successful landing. But with the images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the scientists are relieved knowing the successful landing.

The InSight lander was planned to land in the Elysium Planitia, which is the flat lava plane north side of the equator of the mars. Due to the restrictions on imaging from the earth, the NASA scientists were facing some technical issues identifying the location of the lander from the planet. It has been confirmed now with the stunning images from the orbiter. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is flying around the mars from 2006 when it reached the orbit. The scientists took regular photos of the suspected landing areas after the landing of InSight lander and found nothing in the first try. After five days, the Orbiter was successful in locating the InSight on the surface of the Mars. Firstly, the heat shield was spotted, and then the entire lander was spotted near the Elysium Planitia.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or the HiRISE camera to capture these images. Not just the InSight missions, but the MRO was used to capture the successful landings of the Phoenix Rover landing in 2008 and Curiosity Rover Landing in 2012 using the same camera. The photos taken show the false color as they are taken with the InfraRed camera, which is later corrected manually for better visibility.