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On Nov 26, 2018, NASA landed the InSight lander on the surface of Mars. The planned landing site was 4.5°N, 135°E, within Elysium Planitia. At the time of this post, the final landing coordinates have not been released, but is believed to be very close to the planned coordinates.

prims[ent_Entity, label_: Automatic] := 
 Module[{pos, nam}, {pos, nam} = ent[{"Position", "Name"}];
  {Disk[pos, .01], 
   Text[If[label === Automatic, nam, label], pos, {0, -1.5}]}]

prims[pos_GeoPosition, label_] := {Disk[pos, .01], 
  Text[label, pos, {0, -1.5}]}

We can now construct a GeoGraphics expression that contains the data we want to visualize. The landing sites of a few additional probes and surface features have also been included for greater context.

marsmap[opts___] := 
 With[{pos1 = GeoPosition[{4.5, 135}, Entity["Planet", "Mars"]]}, 
  GeoGraphics[{Red, GeoPath["Equator"], White, 
    prims[pos1, "InSight lander"], 
    prims[Entity["DeepSpaceProbe", "MarsScienceLaboratory"], 
     "Curiosity rover"], 
    prims[Entity["SolarSystemFeature", "ElysiumMonsMars"]], 
    prims[Entity["DeepSpaceProbe", "VikingLander2"]], 
    prims[Entity["DeepSpaceProbe", "MERDashASpiritRover"], 
     "Spirit rover"], {Black, 
     Text["Elysium Planitia", 
      Entity["SolarSystemFeature", "ElysiumPlanitiaMars"][
       "Position"], {0, 0}]}, Opacity[.1], 
    GeoBoundsRegion@(Entity["SolarSystemFeature", 
        "ElysiumPlanitiaMars"]["GeoBoundingBox"])}, 
   GeoGridLines -> Automatic, 
   GeoGridLinesStyle -> Opacity[0.3, White], ImageSize -> 400, 
   GeoRange -> All, opts]]

With[{pos1 = GeoPosition[{4.5, 135}, Entity["Planet", "Mars"]]}, 
 Grid[{{marsmap[
     GeoProjection -> {"Orthographic", "Centering" -> pos1}, 
     GeoZoomLevel -> 2], 
    marsmap[GeoBackground -> "ReliefMap", 
     GeoProjection -> {"Orthographic", "Centering" -> pos1}, 
     GeoZoomLevel -> 2]}}]]

We can view the landing site in more detail by examining the elevation data for this part of Elysium Planitia. Here, we extract the data within a 300 mile radius of the landing site.

insight = 
  GeoElevationData[
   GeoDisk[GeoPosition[{4.5, 135}, Entity["Planet", "Mars"]], 
    Quantity[300, "Miles"]], GeoZoomLevel -> 5];

Without further specifications, the results make the landscape look quite rough.

ListPlot3D[Reverse[insight], PlotRange -> All, ImageSize -> 500]

But the above is misleading. We can specify box ratios and other styles to more accurately represent the appearance of the landing site.

myBoxRatios[{min_, max_}, radius_, 
   verticalExaggerationFactor_: 1] := {1, 1, 
   verticalExaggerationFactor (max - min)/(2 radius)};

style = {Mesh -> None, 
   PlotStyle -> RGBColor[156/255., 96/255., 62/255.], 
   ImageSize -> 500, Boxed -> False, Axes -> False, 
   Lighting -> {{"Ambient", GrayLevel[.1]}, {"Directional", 
      GrayLevel[1], ImageScaled[{1, 1, .1}]}}, PlotRange -> All, 
   Method -> {"ShrinkWrap" -> True}};

ListPlot3D[Reverse[insight], 
 BoxRatios -> 
  myBoxRatios[MinMax[insight], Quantity[300, "Miles"], 1], style]

Zooming in a bit further, we can only see a smattering of relatively small craters within a 100 mile radius of the landing site.

insight2 = 
  GeoElevationData[
   GeoDisk[GeoPosition[{4.5, 135}, Entity["Planet", "Mars"]], 
    Quantity[100, "Miles"]], GeoZoomLevel -> 5];

ListPlot3D[Reverse[insight2], 
 BoxRatios -> 
  myBoxRatios[MinMax[insight2], Quantity[100, "Miles"], 1], style]

The landing site is relatively flat which is optimal for the mission since it needs smooth, loose terrain that is easy to burrow the seismometer and instrumentation into.

Attachments:

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