Getting Ready to Help InSight’s Heat Probe

The robotic arm on NASA's Mars InSight lander moves in place over the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³) and opens the fingers of its grapple in this series of images from June 1, 2019. Using the robotic arm, InSight engineers are preparing to lift the HP³ support structure — the black device with four footpads pressed into the soil — from where it was placed a few months ago on Mars. The instrument's self-hammering "mole" is partially buried beneath it. Engineers hope that by moving the support structure, they can use the robotic arm to help the mole dig deeper into the soil and take the temperature of Mars.