NASA releases InSight's first selfie from the surface of Mars

Even Mars robots act like tourists every once in a while.

NASA’s new InSight lander has snapped its first selfie from the red planet, giving the mission team (and the rest of the world) a good look at its solar panels and deck now that it’s settled in.

InSight also sent back the first complete view of the 14-by-7-foot swath of land that will soon serve as its “workspace\”, the Daily Mail reports.

Each of the new images is a mosaic of several captures stitched together.

While the selfie, captured by the robotic arm, is a composite of 11 pictures, the workspace view includes 52 individual photos.

This is allowing scientists to get a good look at the area well before InSight starts putting down its instruments and digging into the ground.

“The near-absense of rocks, hills, and holes means it’ll be extremely safe for our instruments,” said InSight's Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“This might seem like a pretty plain piece of ground if it weren’t on Mars, but we’re glad to see that.”

Over the last week or so, InSight has sent back the first of its observations – including a clip of light passing over the surface, and recordings of Martian winds.