Yesterday NASA’s spacecraft, InSight, landed on Mars after about 3 months in space. Up to now, every mission on Mars has been a surface mission; this lander is the first of its kind. This new type of lander was not sent to explore the outside of Mars, but instead it was sent to drill 5 meters below the surface to finally find out what the inside of the planet is made of. 

InSight could help scientists find out what makes life possible. Long ago, Earth and Mars looked very similar, but now they are at two completely different stages. InSight could take us to the past to discover what Earth was like before it was habitable, why it became how it is today, and why Mars did not. Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator, said, “Our measurements will help us turn back the clock and understand what produced a verdant Earth but a desolate Mars.”

Not only is InSight going to help scientists discover what Mars is made of, but this SUV sized laboratory is also designed to measure Mars’ quakes. This is history in the making, and we get to live through this groundbreaking adventure.

Read the full Business Insider article here for more details on the mission.