NASA Insight 2016 mission (updates)

[T3X4S]

1 hour ago, Draggendrop said:

Myself, I'm an electrical engineer (Beng), RF comm, Nav and Radar, heavy aircraft background. Prior military service, all cold war. Have a minor in mathematics and would like to continue towards a mechanical engineering degree. Have always had a huge interest in physics, space and ancient archaeology. Never with NASA, but would have been proud to. Just a nerd....

 

Right on!  Can certainly appreciate an educated person who wants to learn more... and just describes himself as "just a nerd" - to that I'll say - "just like me"
 

[Unobscured Vision]

Me, ex-US Military. Can't go into what I did during my enlistment period. Currently in my first term of College, plan to get a Computer Science degree and hopefully work for SpaceX after I'm done. If Comp Sci hasn't satisfied my lust for learning, I'm gonna go all the way to a Electrical Engineering degree (since a Comp Sci degree is a requirement for Electrical Engineering).

 

I'm really digging the learning process, but it's clear to me that Psychology and Sociology is not what I should be doing but I'm still pulling a 4.0 GPA going into my fourth week, and it's stuff I don't care for all that much, so yeah. I'll be fine.

[DocM]

Medical and radiological protection by training, and also some can't discuss matters. Self-taught rocketry including construction (not models), from the horses mouth industry sources and ~50 years of following aerospace and the surrounding politics. Plus a few other fun things.

 

What goes on between the administration (any administration), Congress, NASA and the large companies (Lockheed, Boeing, ULA (their joint venture) and others is enough to drive a person to drink. They've wasted enough money since 1990 to colonize the inner solar system. Twice.

 

 

 

 

[T3X4S]

2 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Me, ex-US Military. Can't go into what I did during my enlistment period. Currently in my first term of College, plan to get a Computer Science degree and hopefully work for SpaceX after I'm done. If Comp Sci hasn't satisfied my lust for learning, I'm gonna go all the way to a Electrical Engineering degree (since a Comp Sci degree is a requirement for Electrical Engineering).

 

I'm really digging the learning process, but it's clear to me that Psychology and Sociology is not what I should be doing but I'm still pulling a 4.0 GPA going into my fourth week, and it's stuff I don't care for all that much, so yeah. I'll be fine.

I was looking for you (BetaGuy) as well when I listed Draggendropp & DocM - but I didnt realize till just now that you are BetaGuy (I forgot your name, but thought "who is that other guy ?") - so please dont feel slighted I didnt mention you -

[T3X4S]

2 hours ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Me, ex-US Military. Can't go into what I did during my enlistment period. Currently in my first term of College, plan to get a Computer Science degree and hopefully work for SpaceX after I'm done. If Comp Sci hasn't satisfied my lust for learning, I'm gonna go all the way to a Electrical Engineering degree (since a Comp Sci degree is a requirement for Electrical Engineering).

 

I'm really digging the learning process, but it's clear to me that Psychology and Sociology is not what I should be doing but I'm still pulling a 4.0 GPA going into my fourth week, and it's stuff I don't care for all that much, so yeah. I'll be fine.

OFFTOPIC

 

I am not knocking your choice of majors - but I defer to the great Dr Richard Feynman and his feelings about the social sciences...  "thats not science"  
However, I can relate to choosing the wrong field.  In college, I majored in Business Mgmt - I was planning on following my father's footsteps, take over the family company - and once I started working there - I realized I hated it with every fiber - and left a huge salary, bad ass company car and an open AMEX account -to go work for $12.00 hr as a PC Technician and loved it

I have the utmost respect for engineers and scientists - lawyers & medical doctors dont impress me - I know too many who are buffoons outside of their scope of practice.

Good Luck in your academic career - Im sure you'll do great.

Sorry to derail the thread

[Draggendrop Veteran]

8 hours ago, T3X4S said:

Sorry to derail the thread

It's actually nice to know someone actually reads our post's. When I make a post, I generally think I'm lucky if the regulars read it. Thank you for the kind words ......and, I am impressed with your new job opportunity.....life is short...grab that bull by the horns and have fun to the fullest, and never loose your sense of humor.....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA decision on InSight Mars lander’s future expected soon

 

InSight could land on Mars in November 2018, more than two years later than planned, but at an additional cost of about $150 million. Credit: NASA

 

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WASHINGTON — NASA could make a decision within a week on the fate of a NASA Mars lander that is facing about $150 million in additional costs because of an instrument problem that caused it to miss its launch window this year.

 

In a presentation to a meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) here March 2, Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator of the InSight Mars lander mission, said the project has completed a revised plan for the mission that supports a launch in 2018, and presented that plan to NASA officials a day earlier.

 

“That presentation went very well,” he said of the NASA briefing. “We had a lot of probing questions and difficult conversations, but overall, I think that we got a positive response.”

 

InSight was scheduled to launch this month and land on Mars in September. The spacecraft, based on the Phoenix mission that landed on Mars in 2008, is designed to study the planet’s interior using a probe to measure heat flow below the surface and a seismometer provided by the French space agency CNES.

 

However, in December NASA announced it was postponing the launch because of problems with leaks in the seismometer, which requires a very strong vacuum to operate. The instrument suffered several leaks during its development, and NASA concluded the problems could not be fixed in time to allow a launch before the 2016 window closed at the end of March.

 

“That was going to take us about three or four weeks beyond our launch if everything went well, so that was not in the cards,” Banerdt said of plans to fix the seismometer after the latest leak. “We know what went wrong. We know how to go about fixing it.”

 

The revised plan, he said, would take advantage of the next Mars launch window in 2018. InSight would launch on May 5 of that year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, landing Nov. 26 on the Elysium Planitia region of Mars, the same landing site as previously planned. The spacecraft’s nominal mission would run though November 2020.

 

That revised plan, including modification and testing of the seismometer, would come at a price: “on the order” of about $150 million, he said. That additional cost means that a final decision on whether to spend that money for a 2018 launch, cancel the mission, or take another option rests with agency leadership.

 

“We’re well on our way” to making a decision on InSight, said Jim Green, the director of NASA’s planetary sciences division, in a talk earlier in the day at the MEPAG. “Perhaps we’ll be able to announce what our next steps are for InSight within this next week or so.”

 

If NASA decided to go ahead with InSight, it would need to find that money, most likely within the agency’s planetary sciences program. “It means less money to do something else,” Banerdt said. “Sorry about that.”

 

Banerdt said one option not under consideration was having CNES pay for at least part of the additional costs because its instrument caused the delay. “They will be spending money on the overrun” to correct the instrument problem, he said. “They won’t be giving us any money to do the things we need to do, and that’s because that’s the way international collaborations work: no money changes hands.”

 

One particular target for the additional funds could be the Discovery program of lower-cost science missions, of which InSight is a part. Some in the planetary science community have expressed concern that the additional cost for InSight could keep NASA from selecting two Discovery missions late this year in an ongoing competition, as some agency officials have suggested they might do.

 

Green, in his remarks, offered no hints about any effect additional InSight costs might have on the ongoing Discovery competition. “We’ll announce the mission or missions that will go forward in the December timeframe,” he said.

http://spacenews.com/nasa-decision-on-insight-mars-landers-future-expected-soon/

 

There has been a lot of money and time invested in this project. Being it unlikely for monetary recovery action, someone or some project may end up being a bit out of pocket for a few years to compensate this project, if approvals given. I do hope they go with "InSight", too far along to scrap now.

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

a bit of info...

 

Fate of NASA’s InSight Mars mission to be decided soon

 

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NASA is close to deciding whether to spend an extra $150 million to send the InSight lander to Mars in 2018 or cancel the mission after an instrument problem made the spacecraft miss a launch opportunity this year, with a verdict on the project’s future expected within weeks, officials said.

Originally intended to launch this week, the InSight mission is designed to probe the interior of Mars and detect seismic tremors after touching down in Elysium Planitia, a relatively flat, smooth plain near the Martian equator.

 

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“The launch window for InSight was to open this month,” said Jim Green, head of NASA’s planetary science division, in a March 2 meeting of Mars scientists. “Because of a very late delivery of an instrument, we recognized that we weren’t going to be able to make it, so we’ve had to step back and begin to re-analyze what are our next steps.”

 

The options are attempting to resolve the problem with the seismometer’s vacuum chamber in time for a launch window in 2018, or canceling the InSight mission.

 

InSight mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory submitted a new plan to NASA leadership March 1 to launch the spacecraft in the next Mars launch opportunity, which opens May 5, 2018.

 

Green said officials at NASA Headquarters in Washington are now reviewing the plan.

 

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As of December, NASA had spent $525 million on the InSight project, which has a cost cap of $675 million, a figure that includes the launch and mission operations on Mars.

 

Extra funding for the InSight mission, if the launch goes ahead in 2018, could stand in the way of NASA’s plan to select up to two new interplanetary probes later this year for launches in 2021.

 

Scientists have submitted proposals for the next Discovery-class solar system mission, and NASA picked five finalists last year for further scrutiny.

In a change from previous practice with Discovery mission selections, the space agency says it could pick two of the five candidates to proceed toward launch.

 

The finalists include two missions to Venus — an atmospheric entry probe and a radar-equipped orbiter — and three proposals to study asteroids.

NASA officials say the agency’s budget may only allow for the selection of one of the candidate missions if InSight needs more funding to launch in 2018.

More info at the link...

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/05/fate-of-nasas-insight-mars-mission-to-be-decided-soon/

 

I think that we may loose a few science missions....

 

They could save a bit by launching with SpaceX, cheaper than Atlas.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch

 

The InSight lander in its cruise stage configuration prior to undergoing acoustic testing at Lockheed Martin. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin

 

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The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA’s top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe’s science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.

The space agency announced Wednesday the InSight mission’s launch has been rescheduled for May 5, 2018, the next time Earth and Mars are properly positioned to permit a direct route to the red planet.

The two-year delay is expected to increase the cost of the mission, but the agency said the amount of cost growth is still being assessed.

 

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JPL will assume responsibility for fixing the component that gave French engineers headaches last year, NASA said in a statement.

 

Engineers at JPL “will redesign, build and conduct qualifications of the new vacuum enclosure for the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), the component that failed in December,” the NASA press release said. “CNES will lead instrument level integration and test activities, allowing the InSight project to take advantage of each organization’s proven strengths.”

 

Banerdt told a meeting of Mars scientists last week that the delay is expected to cost around $150 million, and the costs are likely to be shared by NASA and CNES.

more at the link...

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/09/insight-mars-lander-escapes-cancellation-aims-for-2018-launch/

 

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/03/mars-receive-nasa-insight-end-2018/

 

Saved.....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

InSight delay adds $150 million to mission’s cost

 

Delaying the launch of NASA's InSight Mars lander and fixing a troublesome instrument will cost the agency more than $150 million, to be taken from future planetary missions. Credit: NASA 

 

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WASHINGTON — NASA announced Sept. 2 that it has approved plans to launch a delayed Mars lander mission in 2018, although at an additional cost that could affect plans for later planetary missions.

 

The InSight Mars lander, originally scheduled for launch in March, will now launch no earlier than May 5, 2018, after NASA’s Science Mission Directorate formally approved the revised mission plan this week. That launch will allow a landing on Mars in November 2018.

 

NASA postponed the launch in December 2015 after a series of problems with one of its primary instruments, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), provided by the French space agency CNES. The instrument suffered a series of vacuum leaks that NASA concluded could not be fixed in time to permit a launch during a window that lasted about a month.

 

Under the new mission plan, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will take the lead in redesigning the chamber that contains SEIS. That chamber must maintain a very strong vacuum to measure seismic vibrations as small as half the radius of a hydrogen atom. CNES will focus on the instrument’s sensors and the final integration of the instrument on the spacecraft.

 

The redesign of SEIS, and other aspects of the mission’s two-year delay, will add $153.8 million to InSight’s original cost of $675 million. That cost is in line with previous estimates by project management earlier this year, who predicted the delay would cost roughly $150 million.

 

That additional money will come from plans for later missions. NASA said in its Sept. 2 statement that while no current missions would be affected, “there may be fewer opportunities for new missions in future years, from fiscal years 2017–2020.”

 

http://spacenews.com/insight-delay-adds-150-million-to-missions-cost/

 

NASA approves Funding Plans for 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Lander

In depth analysis...

http://spaceflight101.com/nasa-approves-funding-plans-for-2018-launch-of-mars-insight-lander/

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

Very little data released at this time...will still keep looking...launch not far off (approx 14 months)...

[Draggendrop Veteran]

InSight lander’s troubled seismometer passes major test

 

The InSight spacecraft is pictured in 2015 at Lockheed Martin’s assembly facility near Denver. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin

 

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Engineers finished qualification testing of an engineering model of the redesigned enclosure a few months ago, and last week they completed vacuum leak testing of the flight model that will go to Mars, according to Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Technicians work with the SEIS instrument’s enclosure in France. Credit: CNES

 

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JPL took over redesigning and testing the seismometer enclosure, while CNES remains in charge of developing the sensors themselves, integration of the sensors into the container, and final installation of the instrument on the lander.

 

The tests of the flight model of the enclosure checked its pressure integrity at room temperature and at the temperatures it will encounter at the Martian surface, Banerdt wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now.

 

He said the successful test builds confidence that InSight will meet its backup launch window next year, which opens May 5, 2018. Launch opportunities for Mars missions come about once every 26 months, when the positions of the planets enable a direct journey from Earth.

 

The seismometer instrument will be able to measure ground movements as small as half the radius of a hydrogen atom, NASA said, to sense minor shaking that may originate deep inside Mars. No mission has made a confirmed detection of “marsquakes” before, but instrumentation left behind by the Apollo astronauts discovered such tremors on the moon.

 

After reviewing the costs of the two-year delay, NASA announced in September that the InSight mission will go forward. InSight is one of the agency’s cost-capped Discovery-class interplanetary missions, selected in a competition among mission proposals in 2012.

 

NASA said the delay and rework will add $153.8 million to InSight’s cost. The mission’s budget from NASA was originally $675 million, but it will now exceed $800 million. Those figures do not include funding from CNES and DLR, the German space agency, for InSight’s two main instruments.

 

Once InSight lifts off on an Atlas 5 rocket next May from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the probe will cruise through the solar system for more than six months before plunging into the Martian atmosphere and braking to a rocket-assisted landing Nov. 26, 2018.

more at the link...

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/28/insight-landers-troubled-seismometer-passes-major-test/

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

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NASA Sets Sights on May 5 Launch of InSight Mars Mission

 

NASA’s next mission to Mars, Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight), is scheduled to launch Saturday, May 5, on a first-ever mission to study the heart of Mars. Coverage of prelaunch and launch activities begins Thursday, May 3, on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

 

InSight, the first planetary mission to take off from the West Coast, is targeted to launch at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 a.m. PDT) from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

 

Launching on the same rocket is a separate NASA technology experiment known as Mars Cube One (MarCO). MarCO consists of two mini-spacecraft and will be the first test of CubeSat technology in deep space. They are designed to test new communications and navigation capabilities for future missions and may aid InSight communications.

 

NASA TV and online mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

 

Thursday, May 3

4 p.m. – Prelaunch Briefing

• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
• Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager at JPL
• Annick Sylvestre-Baron, deputy project manager for the InSight seismometer investigation at France's space agency, the Centre National d'Études Spatiales
• Philippe Lognonné, InSight seismometer investigation lead at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France
• Tilman Spohn, investigation lead at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe (HP3), an instrument on InSight
• Andrew Klesh, MarCO chief engineer at JPL
• Anne Marinan, MarCO systems engineer at JPL
• Stu Spath, InSight program manager at Lockheed Martin Space
• Tim Dunn, launch director with NASA’s Launch Services Program
• Scott Messer, ULA program manager for NASA launches
• Col. Michael Hough, commander of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg
• 1st Lt. Kristina Williams, weather officer for the 30th Space Wing
•  

Saturday, May 5

6:30 a.m. – Launch coverage begins.

7:05 a.m. – Launch time

Source:  NASA Press Release

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Launch window opens at 7:05 ET tomorrow morning for the launch.  This will be the first interplanetary mission launching from the West Coast.  InSight landing on Mars is planned for November 26.

 

Highlighted a couple of points in bold.

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NASA's First Mission to Study the Interior of Mars Awaits May 5 Launch

 

All systems are go for NASA’s next launch to the Red Planet.

 

The early-morning liftoff on Saturday of the Mars InSight lander will mark the first time in history an interplanetary launch will originate from the West Coast. InSight will launch from the U.S. Air Force Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 3E. The two-hour launch window will open on May 5 at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT).

 

InSight, for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. InSight will study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all rocky planets formed, including Earth and its Moon. The lander's instruments include a seismometer to detect marsquakes, and a probe that will monitor the flow of heat from the planet's interior.

 

The ULA rocket will carry the spacecraft over the Channel Islands just off the California Coast and continue climbing out over the Pacific, shadowing the coastline south beyond Baja California. InSight’s Atlas will reach orbit about 13 minutes after launch, when the rocket is about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) northwest of Isabella Island, Ecuador.

 

"For those Southern Californians who are interested in rockets or space exploration, or have insomnia, we hope to put on a great show this Saturday," said Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "But for those who want to sleep in on Saturday, there will be another opportunity to engage with this historic mission. We will be landing on Mars in the western Elysium Planitia region on Monday, Nov. 26, around noon Pacific time. You will be able to watch a live stream of this landing while working on your holiday shopping."

 

Getting a Mars mission flying requires a great many milestones. Among those still to come are the official start of the countdown to launch -- which comes on Friday, May 4 at 10:14 p.m. PDT (Saturday, May 5, 1:14 a.m. EDT). A little over an hour later, at about 11:30 p.m. PDT (May 5, 2:30 a.m. EDT), the 260-foot-tall (80-meter) Mobile Service Tower -- a structure that has been protecting the Atlas V launch vehicle and its InSight payload during their vertical assembly -- will begin a 20-minute long, 250-foot (about 80-meter) roll away from the Atlas. Four hours and 25 minutes later, the launch window will open.

 

"I’ve been to several rocket launches, but it is a whole different vibe when there is something you've been working on for years sitting in the nose cone waiting to get hurled beyond our atmosphere," said Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at JPL. "But as exciting as launch day will be, it’s just a first step in a journey that should tell us not only why Mars formed the way it did, but how planets take shape in general."

 

InSight's launch period is May 5 through June 8, 2018, with multiple launch opportunities over windows of approximately two hours each date. Launch opportunities are set five minutes apart during each date's window. Whichever date the launch occurs, InSight's landing on Mars is planned for Nov. 26, 2018, around noon PST (3 p.m. EST).

Source: NASA

 

For launch coverage:  https://www.nasa.gov/live

 

 

How InSight will land on Mars ....

 

 

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Watching the launch replay ... a 108 x 92 initial orbit is acceptable to them?! YEEESH ... the bird isn't that heavy. Couldn't they have put that orbit somewhat higher? Even with the underperformer that the RL-10 is it could manage better -- and yes, I'm aware the payload is heading to Mars.

 

Every time I watch ULA launch something I say the same thing. "Your orbit is way too low, people." ... guess I'm one of those types that needs their payloads not encountering atmospheric shear at periapse.

 

ULA are way too accustomed to mediocrity now.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

40 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Watching the launch replay ... a 108 x 92 initial orbit is acceptable to them?! YEEESH ... the bird isn't that heavy. Couldn't they have put that orbit somewhat higher? Even with the underperformer that the RL-10 is it could manage better -- and yes, I'm aware the payload is heading to Mars.

 

Every time I watch ULA launch something I say the same thing. "Your orbit is way too low, people." ... guess I'm one of those types that needs their payloads not encountering atmospheric shear at periapse.

 

ULA are way too accustomed to mediocrity now.

Parking orbits for interplanetary missions are typically low ... not sure of anything unusual about this mission or its parking orbit (other than it being polar vs equatorial parking orbit).  

[Unobscured Vision]

Parking orbits are higher than this ... at least over 100 miles up. They'll encounter direct atmospheric contact and drag forces at that altitude. Even if it's a half orbit, waiting for perigee kick (which won't be significant when using a 108 x 92) isn't going to serve any purpose.

 

It being a Polar orbit will help only slightly due to low-level atmospheric contraction via thermodynamics at the polar regions. It might buy them half a mile in altitude at best.

 

With all respects, I'm still sketchy about their orbital margins at the altitude they parked at, no matter how long. They begin to lose energy quickly due to drag. I'd feel a lot better if ULA would park higher; a 125-mile periapse should be the hard deck unless they're planning to reenter.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

25 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

Parking orbits are higher than this ... at least over 100 miles up. They'll encounter direct atmospheric contact and drag forces at that altitude. Even if it's a half orbit, waiting for perigee kick (which won't be significant when using a 108 x 92) isn't going to serve any purpose.

 

It being a Polar orbit will help only slightly due to low-level atmospheric contraction via thermodynamics at the polar regions. It might buy them half a mile in altitude at best.

 

With all respects, I'm still sketchy about their orbital margins at the altitude they parked at, no matter how long. They begin to lose energy quickly due to drag. I'd feel a lot better if ULA would park higher; a 125-mile periapse should be the hard deck unless they're planning to reenter.

OK?  I mean it was a planned parking orbit.  It was about 112x115 miles (it was showing nm) ... around 172km.  Not sure that drag really plays a significant factor either considering it was only there for what...about an hour?  Very normal.   /shrug

 

The little cube satellites (MarCO A/B) called back and they are ok, saying "Polo".  Just checked the DSN and the Canberra antenna is chatting away with InSight ... probably will hear some news regarding its health shortly.  According to the DSN, the spacecraft are about 81K miles away.

 

204 days until the landing on Mars.

[DocM]

The MarCO birds are nicknamed WALL-E and EVE

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Neat 3D visualization of the lander...cursor moves around it...also package descriptions...

 

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/about-the-lander/

 

roughly 1 month to go...

[Draggendrop Veteran]

NASA's First Image of Mars from a CubeSat

 

One of NASA's twin MarCO spacecraft took this image of Mars on October 2 -- the first time a CubeSat, a kind of low-cost, briefcase-sized spacecraft -- has done so. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

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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 Oct. 3 - 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.

 

A wide-angle camera on top of MarCO-B produced the image as a test of exposure settings. The MarCO mission, led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, hopes to produce more images as the CubeSats approach Mars ahead of Nov. 26. That's when they'll demonstrate their communications capabilities while NASA's InSight spacecraft attempts to land on the Red Planet. (The InSight mission won't rely on them, however; NASA's Mars orbiters will be relaying the spacecraft's data back to Earth.)

 

This image was taken from a distance of roughly 8 million miles (12.8 million kilometers) from Mars. The MarCOs are "chasing" Mars, which is a moving target as it orbits the Sun. In order to be in place for InSight's landing, the CubeSats have to travel roughly 53 million miles (85 million kilometers). They have already traveled 248 million miles (399 million kilometers).

 

MarCO-B's wide-angle camera looks straight out from the deck of the CubeSat. Parts related to the spacecraft's high-gain antenna are visible on either side of the image. Mars appears as a small red dot at the right of the image.

 

To take the image, the MarCO team had to program the CubeSat to rotate in space so that the deck of its boxy "body" was pointing at Mars. After several test images, they were excited to see that clear, red pinprick.

 

"We've been waiting six months to get to Mars," said Cody Colley, MarCO's mission manager at JPL. "The cruise phase of the mission is always difficult, so you take all the small wins when they come. Finally seeing the planet is definitely a big win for the team."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7263

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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When the mission lands on Nov. 26, @NASAInSight is set to be the chillest robot on #Mars. See how this lander will study an entire planet from just one spot: https://go.nasa.gov/2AoUekP

https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1055175524891291648

 

 

Watch How NASA’s InSight Will Plumb the Depths of Mars / NYT - Out There (video is 3:14 min.)

 

[utube]

 

 

The New York Times
Published on May 5, 2018
NASA’s InSight spacecraft is heading to Mars to listen for marsquakes and probe the geological heart of the planet.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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I’m only 25 days away from landing on #Mars. Learn how my team is preparing for my landing. Tune in today at 10:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. ET: http://go.nasa.gov/InSightLanding .

https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1057659000211165184

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

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Mars InSight Lands on November 26th. Here's where it's going to touch down - Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/140455/mars-insight-lands-on-november-26th-heres-where-its-going-to-touch-down/ … @storybywill @universetoday

 

https://twitter.com/universetoday/status/1060331579023728641

 

 

larger image at the link...

https://www.universetoday.com/140455/mars-insight-lands-on-november-26th-heres-where-its-going-to-touch-down/

 

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

 

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In the course of exploring Mars, the many landers, rovers and orbiters that have been sent there have captured some truly stunning images of the landscape. Between Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and others, we have treated to some high-definition images over the years of sandy dunes, craters and mountains – many of which call to mind places here on Earth.

 

However, if one were to describe the region where NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander will be landing (on Nov. 26th, 2018), the word “plain” would probably come to mind (and it would be appropriate). This region is known as Elysium Planitia, and it is where InSight will spend the next few years studying Mars’ interior structure and tectonic activity for the sake of learning more about its history.

To put it simply, Elysium Planitia is a broad plain that straddles the equatorial region of Mars. While there are several interesting features there, such as ancient volcanoes, large craters, and river valleys, the site where InSight will be landing is decidedly flat and boring-looking. Given the nature of InSight’s mission; however, these same characteristics make it the ideal spot.

 

Smooth, flat ground dominates InSight’s landing ellipse in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

 

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The site also needed to be low-enough in terms of elevation to have sufficient atmosphere above it, which will ensure that the lander slows down enough (from air friction) before deploying its chute and landing rockets to make a safe landing.  To ensure that the three-legged lander could touch down and deploy its solar cells safely, the site also needed to be relatively flat, free of rocks and not subject to strong winds.

 

more at the link...

https://www.universetoday.com/140455/mars-insight-lands-on-november-26th-heres-where-its-going-to-touch-down/

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Insight on DSN...NSYT #36

https://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

 

NASA Brings Mars Landing to Viewers Everywhere

 

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NASA's Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet at approximately noon PST (3 p.m. EST) on Nov. 26, and viewers everywhere can watch coverage of the event live on NASA Television, the agency's website and social media platforms.

 

Launched on May 5, InSight marks NASA's first Mars landing since the Curiosity rover in 2012. The landing will kick off a two-year mission in which InSight will become the first spacecraft to study Mars' deep interior. Its data also will help scientists understand the formation of all rocky worlds, including our own.

 

InSight is being followed to Mars by two miniature NASA spacecraft, jointly called Mars Cube One (MarCO), the first deep-space mission for CubeSats. If MarCO makes its planned Mars flyby, it will attempt to relay data from InSight as it enters the planet's atmosphere and lands.

 

InSight and MarCO flight controllers will monitor the spacecraft's entry, descent and landing from Mission Control at JPL.

 

Broadcast Schedule

All NASA TV news conferences will be available on the agency's website at www.nasa.gov/live. Briefing times and speakers are subject to change. The public may ask questions on social media during the events by tagging them with #askNASA.

 

Wednesday, Nov. 21

10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST) - News conference: Mission engineering overview

11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST) - News conference: Mission science overview

 

Sunday, Nov. 25

10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST) - News conference: Final pre-landing update

1 p.m. PST (4 p.m. EST) - NASA Social: InSight team Q&A

 

Monday, Nov. 26: Landing Day

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST (2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST) - Live landing commentary on the NASA TV Public Channel and online. In addition, an uninterrupted, clean feed of cameras from inside JPL mission control, with mission audio only, will be available at the same time on the NASA TV Media Channel, at www.nasa.gov/ntv and at https://www.youtube.com/user/JPLraw/live.

 

About 12 noon PST (3 p.m. EST) - Expected time of InSight touchdown on Mars

 

No earlier than 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) - Post-landing news conference

 

To watch news conferences and commentary online, you can also visit:

http://www.youtube.com/nasajpl/live

 

A complete list of ways to watch online can be found at:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/watch-online/

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7279

 

NASA Tv

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public