Applause and shouts of joy exploded from mission control members Nov. 26 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. They were celebrating the payoff from years of work – the touchdown of InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport mission) on Martian soil after a seven-month long journey.

Tension amongst NASA directors and watchful members of the public can be attributed to the “seven minutes of terror” it took the lander to hit the ground after entering Mars’ atmosphere.

NASA’s latest interplanetary probe has sent its first selfie from the barren surface of Mars. The photograph shows part of the probe and the Martian surface in the distance.

Due to the millions of miles between Earth and Mars, scientists received all information about the probe’s wellbeing on a more than eight-minute delay.   

Before InSight, NASA had successfully landed seven other crafts on the planet’s surface, but InSight is the first dedicated to studying what lies beneath.

According to NASA, “the InSight mission seeks to uncover how a rocky body forms and evolves to become a planet by investigating the interior structure and composition of Mars. The mission will also determine the rate of Martian tectonic activity and meteorite impacts.”

NASA has described the mission as a checkup of the red planet’s pulse and temperature over the next two years. Among InSight’s instruments are a seismometer and heat flow probe.

InSight has so far shared a handful of grainy images using its lander-mounted, Instrument Context Camera (ICC) and the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on its robotic arm (shown). The latest show the area directly in front of it, along with a look at some of its instruments.

“Studying seismic waves tells us what might be creating the waves,” NASA said. “On Mars, scientists suspect that the culprits may be marsquakes, or meteorites striking the surface.

The heat flow probe will drill deeper than the space organization has been able to reach before.

“Its observations will shed light on whether Earth and Mars are made of the same stuff, and provide a sneak peek into how the planet evolved,” said the mission overview.

While the majority of missions do not survive space travel and impact, InSight hit its target – Elysium Planitia lava plane, which is described as a “vast, flat, almost featureless plain near the equator.”

Because InSight was designed to remain stationary while examining Mars’ crust, mantle and core, a proper landing was critical to the success of the rest of the mission.

“Now they’ve determined that the vehicle sits slightly tilted (about 4 degrees) in a shallow dust- and sand-filled impact crater known as a ‘hollow,’” reported phys.org. “InSight has been engineered to operate on a surface with an inclination up to 15 degrees.”

Since its arrival Nov. 26, InSight has been busy sending back the first grainy photo of its landing site, discharging its robotic arm and setting an off-world record for solar power production.

NASA’s InSight lander is now settling into its new home on Mars and sending pictures back to Earth all the while. The latest snapshots show our clearest look yet at the site where the new lander has planted its feet.

InSight’s safe landing is not the only thing NASA has to be proud of. When the probe launched May 5, 2018, it did not leave the Earth without company. Two smaller CubeSats nicknamed Wall-E and Eve followed InSight so scientists could test whether the relay technology could survive such a far journey.

“The CubeSats provided information to InSight’s landing team in just 8 minutes – the time it took for radio signals to travel from Mars to Earth,” according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “That was much faster than waiting on NASA’s Mars orbiters, which weren’t positioned to be able to observe the entire event and send data back to Earth immediately.”

Though NASA invested $814 million into InSight’s technology, the space organization also benefited from foreign contributions.

“InSight will use two main instruments: a dome-shape package containing seismometers and a heat probe that is to burrow about 16 feet down,” the New York Times reported. “France and Germany invested $180 million to build these main instruments.”

Photos courtesy of DailyMail.com.

Kansas City (@VisitKC)

The Kansas City metro is huge, and, for those on campus who aren’t from the area, there’s a lot to discover. The aim of Visit KC’s Twitter account is to let you know what’s happening and possibly give you some ideas for a night out. In addition, being a Kansas City native and sports fanatic myself, the numerous Royals-related Tweets as of late are much appreciated.

For today's #ThrowbackThursday, let's look back to last Sunday. #Crowned #Royals https://t.co/U0OBxY6nKy

— Visit KC (@VisitKC) November 5, 2015

On The Roofs (Instagram: ontheroofs)

Vadim Makharov isn’t just any dime-a-dozen, GoPro-wielding Instagram photographer. As his account name implies, Makhorov likes to get up really, really high. Many of his “On The Roofs” photos are simple: climb up, find a ledge, point down and take a surreal picture of the street below. In addition to the vertigo-inducing shots, Markhorov captures mountains, cityscapes and architecture from a much safer ground-level view.

India #ontheroofs

A post shared by OnTheRoofs (@ontheroofs) on Sep 13, 2014 at 3:04pm PDT

The Bespoke Dudes (Instagram: fabioattanasio)

It’s hard not to find the endless flood of fashion bloggers on Instagram, but outside of any accounts run by retail stores, men’s fashion seems to be thrown by the wayside. Not so with Italian eyeglasses designer Fabio Attanasio, who is attempting to revive older styles of men’s formal wear. And this isn’t one of your super-hipsters who looks like they are perpetually wearing Halloween costumes. Attanasio’s “sartorial classicism” style is both realistic for everyday wear and super slick. Combine that with typical Italian landscapes and food, and you’ve got one cool Instagram account.

Blue & Yellow ????? #thebespokedudesinnewyork #newyork #bespoke #menswear #tailoring Ph: @guerreisms

A post shared by The Bespoke Dudes (@fabioattanasio) on Nov 7, 2015 at 9:04pm PST

NASA (@NASA)

If following the Pope brings you closer to God, then following NASA makes you smarter. Most governmental science agencies have Twitter accounts also worth following, but NASA’s is one of the more active and popular accounts. You’ll find posts about upcoming astronomical events, scientific articles, and breathtaking pictures. It’s worth a look even if you aren’t a sucker for everything space-related.

What's up in the sky for November? Our @Tumblr blog breaks it down for you: https://t.co/7aFBISColG pic.twitter.com/MkJ2myn8iX

— NASA (@NASA) November 5, 2015

SportsCenter (Instagram: sportscenter)

ESPN’s flagship program maintains a very active Instagram account. Keep up with stats, game times, must-watch plays, gaffes and other sports-related information amid your typical photographic traffic. Everything from American football to the World Armwrestling Federation is covered. For those of you who are less sports-inclined, posts will help you keep up with which sports are in season. The strangely muscular athletes may even encourage a health kick.

Gregg Popovich's response when asked if he watched the World Series last night…

A post shared by SportsCenter (@sportscenter) on Nov 2, 2015 at 4:17pm PST

National Geographic (Instagram: natgeo)

An obvious choice, National Geographic covers just about anything on the solar system’s most interesting planet. This isn’t your father’s National Geographic though. The pictures of nature and everyday human life aren’t missing, but now you’ll find things like a nuclear control room, stills from old film strips and descriptions of people they meet, Humans of New York style. There’s even coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis, making every photo caption a must-read. It’s a little bit of everything, and it all looks amazing.

Phone photo: @ivankphoto Corn dries in front of a store on the back roads of #Cayambe, #Ecuador. @runa_photos, @thephotosociety, @panospictures

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Nov 1, 2015 at 4:48pm PST

Twitter’s Parody Accounts

The only reason I didn’t quit Twitter a week after making my account was the discovery of something wonderful: the parody account. These accounts can include anyone from Henry Tudor (@KngHnryVIII) to Michael Scott (@Da_MichaelScott). Some of the ones I’ve personally liked are Florida Man (@_FloridaMan), Chaucer Doth Tweet (@LeVosterGC), Church Curmudgeon (@ChurchCurmudgeon) and Modern Seinfeld (@SeinfeldToday). There are plenty out there, so find one that you like and start laughing.

When George falls for a Twitter bot, Kramer claims he once Catfished himself. J:How’s that even possible? K:Oh I’m good Jerry. I’m real good

— Modern Seinfeld (@SeinfeldToday) July 8, 2015

The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing both awareness of the space program and astronomical research in general, estimates that NASA needs at least $1.5 billion per year to function at full capacity, but funding has run dry.  Despite its relatively low cost operation relative to other government programs, with the Department of Defense and energy efforts costing tens of billions of dollars—its budgets have nonetheless been among the first to dwindle.

NASA is now left with $1.36 billion, and as a result, the agency is often left to rely upon Russia for assistance.  No longer able to support the immense sums needed to build their own transport vehicles, astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS) must now either look abroad or to private companies to arrive at their destination.  However, increasing hostility between Russia and the United States may put this system and the entire space program at risk.

While the relationship between the two countries is mostly symbiotic because Russia relies upon the United States for solar power technology that they lack, the underlying tension between their countries is never truly ignored.  Perhaps the most notable example lies within an April 2014 tweet by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, which infamously “suggest[s] that the U.S. [deliver] its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline.”

However, it is extremely unlikely that Russia will resort to extreme measures.  This instance nevertheless concerns many within the field, with NASA suspending all “non-essential contact” with Russia and with increasing questions over whether the United States should rely on a foreign country for its own space program.

While America is already beginning to initiate contracts with three private companies, SpaceX, Sierra Nevada and Boeing, a full grant has not been made, selection has not been narrowed to a single company and even if significant progress were to be made, a truly independent NASA mission would not come until 2017, if not later.  Even then, preparations are underway to develop an American-made equivalent to the Russian rocket engines mainly used by the private companies.

The House of Representatives is beginning to increase the budget for the space program among these rising international tensions.  Though these raises might not allow NASA to reach their 2017 manned mission deadline, it should allow preparation for a Mars mission within the next 20 years and will also fund the new James Webb Space Telescope, meant to replace the aging Hubble Space Telescope and in 2018.

These measures might bring a new possibility to the space exploration discussion—that of seeking signs of life on Europa, one of Jupiter’s famous Galilean moons.  Currently, only one mission—the United States’ “New Horizons”, extends to the outer ranges of the solar system, and should that program’s 2017 mission to Pluto fail to be approved, exploration of that area would stop.  But Europa boasts the highest opportunity for life in the entire Milky Way galaxy, piquing the interest of astrobiologists and motivating Congress to earmark money for a potential mission there.  Scientists are already brainstorming ideas for potential Europa visits, meaning that this moon might just be what will give new life to the space program as well.