Topic: NASA’s InSight Spacecraft

NASA lists 3 Things learned from Mars InSight Mission

December 17, 2020 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s InSight spacecraft touched down November 26th, 2018, on Mars to study the planet’s deep interior.

A little more than one Martian year later, the stationary lander has detected more than 480 quakes and collected the most comprehensive weather data of any surface mission sent to Mars. InSight’s probe, which has struggled to dig underground to take the planet’s temperature, has made progress, too.

There was a time when the surfaces of Mars and Earth were very similar. Both were warm, wet, and shrouded in thick atmospheres.

Clouds drift over the dome-covered seismometer, known as SEIS, belonging to NASA’s InSight lander, on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA takes a look at Marsquakes

July 23, 2019 |

Pasadena, CA – A recent set of earthquakes shook up Southern California. But NASA says Earth isn’t the only place that experiences quakes: Both the Moon and Mars have them as well. NASA sent the first seismometer to the Moon 50 years ago, during the Apollo 11 mission; the agency’s InSight lander brought the first seismometer to Mars in late 2018, and it’s called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS).

Provided by the French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), the seismometer detected its first marsquake on April 6th, 2019.

This artist’s concept is a simulation of what seismic waves from a marsquake might look like as they move through different layers of the Martian interior. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ETH Zurich/ Van Driel)

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NASA will use multiple spacecraft to monitor Insight Landing on Mars

November 25, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – What’s the sound of a touchdown on Mars? If you’re at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it sounds like winning the Super Bowl: cheers, laughter and lots of hollering.

But in the minutes before that, NASA’s InSight team will be monitoring the Mars lander’s radio signals using a variety of spacecraft – and even radio telescopes here on Earth – to suss out what’s happening 91 million miles (146 million km) away.

This image depicts the MarCO CubeSats relaying data from NASA’s InSight lander as it enters the Martian atmosphere. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA says Mars, Earth can teach us a lot about Life

November 24, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA says Mars and Earth are like two siblings who have grown apart.

There was a time when their resemblance was uncanny: Both were warm, wet and shrouded in thick atmospheres. But 3 or 4 billion years ago, these two worlds took different paths.

We may soon know why they went their separate ways. NASA’s InSight spacecraft will arrive at the Red Planet on Monday, November 26th, 2018 and will allow scientists to compare Earth to its rusty sibling like never before.

This composite image of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA releases timeline for InSight landing on Mars

November 23, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Pasadena, CA – On Monday, November 26th, 2018, NASA’s InSight spacecraft will blaze through the Martian atmosphere and attempt to set a lander gently on the surface of the Red Planet in less time than it takes to hard-boil an egg.

InSight’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) team, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, along with another part of the team at Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, have pre-programmed the spacecraft to perform a specific sequence of activities to make this possible.

This illustration shows a simulated view of NASA’s InSight lander descending on its parachute toward the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s InSight Lander to study Mars from one location

October 25, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – You don’t need wheels to explore Mars. After touching down in November, NASA’s InSight spacecraft will spread its solar panels, unfold a robotic arm … and stay put.

Unlike the space agency’s rovers, InSight is a lander designed to study an entire planet from just one spot.

This sedentary science allows InSight to detect geophysical signals deep below the Martian surface, including marsquakes and heat.

This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s InSight lander after it has deployed its instruments on the Martian surface. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s MarCO CubeSats take their first picture of Mars

October 23, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO – which stands for Mars Cube One – has Mars in sight.

One of the twin MarCO CubeSats snapped this image of Mars on October 3rd – the first image of the Red Planet ever produced by this class of tiny, low-cost spacecraft. The two CubeSats are officially called MarCO-A and MarCO-B but nicknamed “EVE” and “Wall-E” by their engineering team.

One of NASA’s twin MarCO spacecraft took this image(annotated) of Mars on October 2nd — the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft — has done so. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Mars Cube One mission breaking new ground in Deep Space Exploration

September 16, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Twenty years ago, CubeSats — a class of boxy satellites small enough to fit in a backpack — were used by universities as a teaching aid. Simpler, smaller and cheaper than traditional satellites, they’ve made space more accessible to private companies and science agencies.

This summer, NASA has been flying the first two next-generation CubeSats to deep space. They’re currently on their way to Mars, trailing thousands of miles behind the InSight spacecraft. InSight and its CubeSat tag-alongs are already more than halfway to the Red Planet.

NASA Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA CubeSats Steer make trajectory correction for Mars

June 5, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA has achieved a first for the class of tiny spacecraft known as CubeSats, which are opening new access to space.

Over the past week, two CubeSats called MarCO-A and MarCO-B have been firing their propulsion systems to guide themselves toward Mars. This process, called a trajectory correction maneuver, allows a spacecraft to refine its path to Mars following launch.

Both CubeSats successfully completed this maneuver; NASA’s InSight spacecraft just completed the same process on May 22nd.

An artist’s concept of one of NASA’s MarCO CubeSats. The twin MarCOs are the first CubeSats to complete a trajectory correction maneuver, firing their thrusters to guide themselves toward Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA to launch first pair of CubeSats designed for Deep Space

April 21, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Many of NASA’s most iconic spacecraft towered over the engineers who built them: think Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Cassini or Galileo — all large machines that could measure up to a school bus.

But in the past two decades, mini-satellites called CubeSats have made space accessible to a new generation. These briefcase-sized boxes are more focused in their abilities and have a fraction of the mass — and cost — of some past titans of space.

In May, engineers will be watching closely as NASA launches its first pair of CubeSats designed for deep space. The twin spacecraft are called Mars Cube One, or MarCO, and were built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

An artist’s rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space. The MarCOs will be the first CubeSats — a kind of modular, mini-satellite — attempting to fly to another planet. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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