WATCH: NASA spacecraft successfully touches down on Mars

AFTER an almost seven-month journey from Earth, NASA’s Insight spacecraft has successfully landed on Mars!

The new robot touched down on the red planet just before 7am AEST, with Insight confirming on Twitter that they were now ‘home’.

“I feel you Mars … and soon I’ll know your heart. With this safe landing, I’m here. I’m home,” the post reads.

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Nasa’s mission control in California erupted into applause and cheer following the news, with vision posted to Twitter showing flight controllers hugging and beaming with joy.

WATCH:

Our @NASAInSight spacecraft stuck the #MarsLanding!

Its new home is Elysium Planitia, a still, flat region where it’s set to study seismic waves and heat deep below the surface of the Red Planet for a planned two-year mission. Learn more: https://t.co/fIPATUugFo pic.twitter.com/j0hXTjhV6I

— NASA (@NASA) November 26, 2018

“Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.

“InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars.

“This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon.”

It’s understood the touchdown took just six-and-a-half minutes.

“We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph (19,800 kilometers per hour), and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only six-and-a-half minutes,” InSight project manager Tom Hoffman at JPL said.

“During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly — and by all indications that is exactly what our spacecraft did.”

📸 Wish you were here! @NASAInSight sent home its first photo after #MarsLanding:

InSight’s view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars’ deep interior. pic.twitter.com/3EU70jXQJw

— NASA (@NASA) November 26, 2018

NASA says InSight’s two-year mission will be to “study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed.”