Mars InSight Lands on November 26th. Here's where it's going to touch down

"If Elysium Planitia were a salad, it would consist of romaine lettuce and kale - no dressing. If it were an ice cream, it would be vanilla... Previous missions to the Red Planet have investigated its surface by studying its canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil. But the signatures of the planet's formation processes can be found only by sensing and studying evidence buried far below the surface. It is InSight's job to study the deep interior of Mars, taking the planet's vital signs - its pulse, temperature and reflexes."

"Picking a good landing site on Mars is a lot like picking a good home: It's all about location, location, location. And for the first time ever, the evaluation for a Mars landing site had to consider what lay below the surface of Mars. We needed not just a safe place to land, but also a workspace that's penetrable by our 16-foot-long (5-meter) heat-flow probe."