InSight, MarCO-A, MarCO-B - Atlas V 401 - Vandenberg SLC-3E - 05.05.2018 - 11:05 UTC

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поц

#160
ЦитироватьLockheed Martin‏Подлинная учетная запись @LockheedMartin 8 ч.8 часов назад

Unveiling the @NASAInSight Mars Lander! We shipped the lander to California on February 28 and it's launching to #Mars May 5.


tnt22

ЦитироватьMars InSight Arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base

  NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory


Опубликовано: 7 мар. 2018 г.

NASA's InSight spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final preparations for launch. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet's interior by listening for marsquakes and measuring its heat output. It will be the first planetary spacecraft to launch from this west coast launch facility. The launch period for InSight opens May 5, 2018 and continues through June 8, 2018. For more about the mission, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/insight .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQtjra0uEnchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQtjra0uEnc (0:40)


tnt22

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/
ЦитироватьAbout InSight's Launch

InSight is scheduled to launch under pre-dawn skies from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California in May 2018.

The mission's launch period is May 5 through June 8, 2018, with daily launch windows that last two hours per day. Launch opportunities are set five minutes apart during each date's launch window. The first opportunity begins at approximately 4:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on May 5.

InSight will launch from Launch Complex 3 and ride atop an Atlas V-401 rocket provided by United Launch Alliance, Centennial Colorado, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Atlas V is one of the biggest rockets available for interplanetary flight. This is the same type of rocket that launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2005.

The launch is only the beginning; the trip to Mars takes about six months. The journey is about 301 million miles (485 million kilometers).

No matter at what particular time and date InSight launches during its launch windows, its date with Mars is set for Nov. 26, 2018.

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/social/witness-the-first-interplanetary-launch-from-west-coast
Цитировать

March 13, 2018

Witness NASA's Next Mars Spacecraft Liftoff in the First Interplanetary Launch fr om the West Coast

Are you a digital creator, citizen journalist or active on social media? Do you have an idea for a unique way to share the story of the West Coast's first interplanetary rocket launch? Apply now to attend launch activities for NASA's InSight mission, May 3-5, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California.
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InSight's launch begins a six-month journey to Mars, wh ere the lander will deploy the first seismometer to the surface of another planet. By measuring marsquakes, InSight will map the deep interior of Mars to help us better understand how rocky planets, including Earth, are formed.
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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The InSight spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission.

For more information on InSight, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/
...
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Last Updated: March 13, 2018
Editor: Emily Furfaro

tnt22

ЦитироватьNASA_LSP‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_LSP 1 ч. назад

The @ulalaunch #AtlasV booster for @NASAInSight's Mars mission was recently lifted to vertical in preparation for the first interplanetary launch from the west coast on May 5.
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tnt22

https://blogs.nasa.gov/insight/2018/03/21/nasas-insight-arrives-at-vandenberg-begins-preflight-processing/
ЦитироватьNASA's InSight arrives at Vandenberg, Begins Preflight Processing

Bob Granath
Posted Mar 21, 2018 at 11:14 am



Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft has been mounted on to a rotation fixture for testing. InSight is scheduled to launch May 5, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for its trip to Mars.
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InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and arrived at Vandenberg on Feb. 28 aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft then was transported to the Astrotech facility at the West Coast launch site.

This mission will be the first to look deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listening for marsquakes. It will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the Red Planet's deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars' formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created.

Photo credit: USAF 30th Space Wing/Alex Valdez
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Чебурашка

Кстати, а почему запуск с Ванденберга?
Вроде к Марсу всегда с Канаверала запускали?

поц

#168
ЦитироватьSpaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow сейчас1 минуту назад


Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California have raised an Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad for liftoff of NASA's InSight Mars lander in May. InSight will be the first mission to another planet to launch from the West Coast.


tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/03/23/atlas-5-rocket-assembled-for-first-mars-mission-launch-from-vandenberg/
ЦитироватьAtlas 5 rocket assembled for first Mars mission launch fr om Vandenberg
March 23, 2018 | Stephen Clark


The Atlas 5's first stage booster for the InSight mission arrives at Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA's InSight lander heading to Mars.

The two-stage rocket was assembled in three pieces, beginning with the stacking of the Atlas 5's first stage booster March 3 at Space Launch Complex 3-East. The first stage's RD-180 main engine will burn a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen to send the InSight spacecraft out of the Earth's atmosphere during the first four minutes of the flight.

The Atlas 5's Centaur upper stage, powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine, was installed on top of the first stage March 6. The Centaur engine, consuming liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, will dispatch the InSight probe with enough velocity to escape Earth's gravity and head for Mars.

Two days later, on March 8, a boattail structure was added to the top of the Centaur stage. The boattail provides an aerodynamic and structural connection between the Centaur and the Atlas 5's payload fairing, which will be lifted on top of the rocket with the InSight spacecraft next month.

Liftoff is scheduled for May 5 during two-hour launch window that opens at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT; 1105 GMT). The InSight mission has until June 8 to depart Earth, a month-long period determined by the planetary positions of Earth and Mars in the solar system.
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Built by Lockheed Martin, InSight will reach Mars on Nov. 26, using a heat shield, a supersonic parachute and retro-rockets to steer toward a soft touchdown on Elysium Planitia, a broad equatorial plain. Once on the ground, the lander will survey its surroundings with cameras, then use its robotic arm to place a seismometer instrument on the surface to listen for tremors that could provide clues about the red planet's deep interior.

InSight will also drill into the Martian crust to a depth of nearly 16 feet, or 5 meters, to measure the heat coming up from the Martian interior. That is deeper than any previous Mars mission has scooped or drilled.


Artist's concept of the InSight lander on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Scientists hope InSight will help them understand how rocky planets like Mars and Earth formed and evolved over the approximately 4.5 billion-year history of the solar system.

InSight will become the first mission to another planet launched from Vandenberg, the primary launch base on the U.S. West Coast. ULA and NASA officials agreed to launch InSight from California to alleviate demands on the launch schedule at Cape Canaveral, wh ere around a half-dozen Atlas 5 missions are planned this year.

InSight will be the only Atlas 5 launch from Vandenberg in 2018, and the relatively light weight of the spacecraft is well within the Atlas 5's lift capacity, eliminating the need to receive an extra boost of energy from Earth's rotation by launching to the east from Florida's Space Coast.

The launch of InSight will be the 78th flight of an Atlas 5 rocket since its debut in August 2002, and the 15th Atlas 5 mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base. InSight will be the fourth Mars mission to blast off atop an Atlas 5, after successful missions to send the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Curiosity rover and the MAVEN atmospheric research mission to the red planet.

InSight was originally supposed to launch in March 2016, but difficulties developing and testing the lander's seismometer science instrument prompted officials to keep the mission grounded until 2018. Scientists say the seismometer problem has been resolved.



Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing/Arron Taubman


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing/Arron Taubman


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin


Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
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tnt22

ЦитироватьMars in a Minute: Are There Quakes on Mars?

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Опубликовано: 28 мар. 2018 г.

Are there earthquakes on Mars?  Or rather, "marsquakes?"  And what could they teach us about the Red Planet?  Find out more in this 60-second video and by visiting mars.nasa.gov/insight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dc-8WOtJPYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dc-8WOtJPY (1:00)

tnt22

ЦитироватьNASA Mars InSight Overview

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Опубликовано: 29 мар. 2018 г.

NASA's next mission to Mars is weeks away from its May 2018 launch. InSight is more than a Mars mission. Its team members hope to unlock the mysteries of the formation and evolution of rocky planets, including Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKLITDmm4NAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKLITDmm4NA (2:31)

tnt22

ЦитироватьInSight: Digging Deep into Mars

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Трансляция началась 16 часов назад

Original air date: Thursday, March 29 at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET, 2100 UTC)

NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander 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 in the planet's subsurface.

News briefing participants were:

• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington
• Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at JPL
• Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager at JPL
• Jaime Singer, InSight instrument deployment lead at JPL

InSight will be the first planetary spacecraft to take off from the West Coast. It's scheduled to launch May 5 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. If pre-dawn skies are clear, the launch will be visible from Santa Maria to San Diego, California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Hh3FeRrMUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Hh3FeRrMU (1:00:49)

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/getting-insight-on-the-interior-of-mars
ЦитироватьMarch 29, 2018

Getting InSight on the Interior of Mars



Testing continued on NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft on inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in early March 2018.

InSight is scheduled to launch on May 5, 2018, and will be the first mission to explore the deep interior of Mars, studying the size, thickness, density and overall structure of the Red Planet's core, mantle and crust. It will investigate processes that shaped all the rocky planets of the inner solar system, including Earth.

Learn more about the InSight mission.

Image Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing/Alex Valdez

Last Updated: March 29, 2018
Editor: Yvette Smith

tnt22

ЦитироватьNASAInSight‏ @NASAInSight 6 ч. назад

Last look from the cleanroom in the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base before I fly ~301 million miles to get to #Mars. My launch is scheduled for #CincoDeMayo at 4:05 a.m. Pacific. More on my launch: http://go.nasa.gov/2E7JZkY 
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tnt22

ЦитироватьWatching the First Interplanetary Launch fr om America's West Coast

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Опубликовано: 6 апр. 2018 г.

NASA's InSight to Mars will be the first interplanetary launch from America's West Coast. Residents in some of California's coastal communities could get a front row seat when the mission launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Here's when and wh ere to see it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuNfBRaywU4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuNfBRaywU4 (2:09)

tnt22

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7095
ЦитироватьAPRIL 6, 2018

Bound for Mars: Countdown to First Interplanetary Launch fr om California


NASA's InSight to Mars undergoes final preparations at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., ahead of its May 5 launch date. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
› Larger view

In the early morning hours of May 5, millions of Californians will have an opportunity to witness a sight they have never seen before - the historic first interplanetary launch from America's West Coast. On board the 189-foot-tall (57.3-meter) United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will be NASA's InSight spacecraft, destined for the Elysium Planitia region located in Mars' northern hemisphere. The May 5 launch window for the InSight mission opens at 4:05 am PDT (7:05 EDT, 11:05 UTC) and remains open for two hours.
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"If you live in Southern California and the weather is right, you'll probably have a better view of the launch than I will," said Tom Hoffman, project manager for NASA's InSight mission from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "I'll be stuck inside a control room looking at monitors -- which is not the best way to enjoy an Atlas 5 on its way to Mars."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuNfBRaywU4
(video 2:09)
NASA's InSight to Mars will be the first interplanetary launch from America's West Coast. Residents in some of California's coastal communities could get a front row seat when the mission launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Here's when and wh ere to see it.

In clear skies, the InSight launch should be viewable up and down a wide swath of the California coast. Residents from as far north as Bakersfield to perhaps as far south as Rosarito, Mexico, may see the Atlas rocket rising in the predawn sky and then heading south, parallel to the coastline.

The United Launch Alliance two-stage Atlas V 401 launch vehicle will produce 860,200 pounds (3.8 million newtons) of thrust as it climbs away from its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lompoc, California. During the first 17 seconds of powered flight, the Atlas V will climb vertically above its launch pad. Then it will begin a pitch and yaw maneuver that will place it on a trajectory towards Earth's south pole.

"After lift-off from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 3, the Atlas V begins a southerly trajectory and climbs out over the Channel Islands off Oxnard," said Tim Dunn, launch director for the Launch Services Program at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "If you live on the California Central Coast or south to L.A. and San Diego, be sure to get up early on May 5th, because Atlas V is the gold standard in launch vehicles and it can put on a great show."

Mach One occurs 1 minute and 18 seconds into the Atlas V's powered flight. At that time the vehicle will be about 30,000 feet (9 kilometers) in altitude and 1 mile (1.75 kilometers) down range. Two minutes and 36 seconds later, the Atlas first stage will shut down at an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers) and 184 miles (296 kilometers) down range. The Centaur second stage (carrying InSight inside a 40-foot-long payload fairing) separates from the now-dead first stage six seconds later. Ten seconds later, the Centaur's engine kicks in with its 22,890 pounds (101,820 newtons) of thrust, which will carry it and InSight into its 115-mile-high (185-kilometer) parking orbit 13 minutes and 16 seconds after launch. This parking orbit will last 59 to 66 minutes, depending on the date and time of the launch. The Centaur will then re-ignite for one last burn at one hour and 19 minutes after launch, placing InSight into a Mars-bound interplanetary trajectory. Spacecraft separation from the Centaur will occur about 93 minutes after liftoff for the first May 5 launch opportunity as the spacecraft is approximately over the Alaska-Yukon region.

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.

Additional information on viewing the launch in person is at:https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/watch-in-person/.

Live televised coverage of the launch will be available at:https://www.nasa.gov/live.

Whichever date the launch occurs, InSight's landing on Mars is planned for Nov. 26, 2018, around noon PST (3 p.m. EST / 20:00 UTC).

NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander 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 in the planet's subsurface.

NASA' s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The InSight spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida provides launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is NASA's launch service provider of the Atlas 5 rocket. A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission.

For more information about InSight, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/

News Media Contact

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

JoAnna Wendel
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1003
joanna.r.wendel@nasa.gov

2018-069
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tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/08/nasas-insight-lander-inside-one-month-to-launch-toward-mars/
ЦитироватьNASA's InSight lander inside one month to launch toward Mars
April 8, 2018Stephen Clark


InSight's heat shield (left) will soon be re-installed on the Mars lander (right) in preparation for launch May 5 fr om Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

NASA's InSight Mars lander will be buttoned up for launch in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, in preparation for its hoisting atop an Atlas 5 rocket for blastoff in the predawn hours of May 5.

The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft has completed a series of checkouts since arriving at Vandenberg, a military base located northwest of Los Angeles, on Feb. 28. Engineers removed the InSight lander's heat shield for final electronics testing and fueling.

With fuel for its control thrusters and landing rockets now loaded, and launch less than four weeks away, ground crews inside the Astrotech spacecraft processing facility at Vandenberg will re-install the heat shield, lift the spacecraft on top of the Atlas 5's payload attach fitting, then encapsulate the probe inside the Atlas 5's nose shroud.

Once cocooned inside the payload fairing, InSight will be transported to Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg, where cranes will hoist the spacecraft on top of the Atlas 5 launcher already assembled at the pad inside a mobile service tower.

ULA's launch team completed a fueling test and countdown rehearsal on the Atlas 5 rocket last month. Such tests, called "wet dress rehearsals," are not part of a normal Atlas 5 launch campaign, but officials ordered the operation as an extra step to ensure the rocket is ready for InSight's 34-day launch period.

Liftoff is scheduled for May 5 during a two-hour launch window opening at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT; 1105 GMT).
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InSight has until June 8 to launch from Vandenberg, when the ever-changing positions of Earth and Mars in the solar system make a direct trip possible. Mars launch opportunities come once every 26 months.

The lander will arrive at Mars on Nov. 26, regardless of the launch date from May 5 through June 8.


Artist's concept of the InSight lander on Mars, with its seismometer and heat probe instruments deployed on the surface. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

InSight will be the first mission to another planet to lift off from the U.S. West Coast. Vandenberg Air Force Base is typically host to launches into polar orbit, a type of orbit usually tailored for climate research missions, spy satellites and some communication applications.

NASA's interplanetary probes are usually reserved for launches from Cape Canaveral, wh ere rockets take off toward the east over the Atlantic Ocean for safety reasons. A launch toward the east gains an extra boost from the speed of Earth's rotation, allowing a rocket to carry a heavier payload.

But InSight is small — it will weigh around 1,530 pounds (694 kilograms) at launch — well below the lift capability of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, which will fly in its basic "401" configuration with a four-meter payload fairing and no solid rocket boosters.

That means the Atlas 5 will not need the extra energy imparted during an eastward launch from Cape Canaveral, and ULA and NASA agreed to launch InSight from Vandenberg. Fewer Atlas 5 missions are scheduled from Vandenberg, so officials wanted to reduce the workload at ULA's busier launch base in Florida.

Designers based the InSight lander on NASA's Phoenix probe, which launched in August 2007 and touched down on the northern polar plains of Mars in May 2008. Diminishing solar power and cold temperatures limited Phoenix's lifetime to about five months — two months longer than its three-month prime mission.

InSight will head for a broad plain near the Martian equator with ample sunlight year-round. Officials sel ected the landing site in Elysium Planitia for its safety — there are few steep slopes or huge boulders. Bruce Banerdt, InSight's principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, calls it "the biggest parking lot on Mars."

No mission has landed at Elysium Planitia before, but NASA's Curiosity rover — the last U.S. craft to land on Mars in 2012 — is exploring Gale Crater nearly 400 miles (600 kilometers) to the south.

Scientists usually want to send Mars landers to places that show evidence of ancient water flows, allowing instruments to study whether the red planet may have once harbored life.

But InSight's scientific objectives go deeper.


Diagram of the InSight spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Two instruments carried aboard the lander will study the Martian interior, listening for tremors and measuring heat coming from the planet's deep mantle and core. Scientists will also measure Mars' polar wobble by analyzing radio signals transmitted between InSight and Earth-based antennas.

"In essence, it will take the vital signs of Mars — its pulse, temperature and much more," said Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's science division. "We like to say it's the first thorough checkup since the planet formed four-and-a-half billion years ago."

Much of the ancient geologic record on Earth has eroded away, but Mars may still hold clues about how it was born, accreted rock and dust, and formed a hot, high-pressure mantle and core as heavier elements sunk deep beneath its surface.

"How we get from a ball of featureless rock into a planet that may or may not support life is a key question in planetary science," Banerdt said. "And these processes that do this all happen in the first tens of millions of years."

Discoveries made by InSight at Mars could inform scientists how the Earth formed and evolved.

"Mars is a smaller planet," Banerdt said. "It's less active than the Earth, so it has retained the fingerprints of those early processes in its basic structure — the thickness of the crust, the compositon of the mantle, the size and composition of its core," he said. "By mapping out these boundaries, these various different sections of the inside of the planet, we can then understand better how the planet formed, and how our planet got to be the way it is."

The nearly $1 billion InSight mission carries a French-developed seismometer package and a German-built heat probe that will burrow to a depth of up to 16 feet (5 meters).

A nearly 8-foot-long (2.4-meter) robotic arm will place the seismometer and heat probe on the Martian surface next to the lander after touchdown. InSight's robotic arm was originally built for the canceled Mars Surveyor lander that was supposed to launch in 2001.

Officials hoped to launch InSight in March 2016, but problems testing the seismometer instrument forced a delay until the next Mars launch opportunity this year.

InSight's primary mission is expected to last more than a Martian year — or nearly two Earth years — through November 2020.

"This is something that I've dreamed about, and developed my career to, for 30 years now," Banerdt said. "We've been trying to refine this mission concept and get it ready to go, and finally we're right on the verge of taking off for Mars."

The photos below were taken Friday inside the Astrotech clean room at Vandenberg, showing the InSight lander inside its aerodynamic backshell and mated to the craft's cruise stage, which will steer the probe toward Mars after its launch May 5.

The cruise stage's power-generating solar panels will be launched in the extended configuration seen in these photos. Shortly before arriving at Mars, the cruise stage will separate fr om the entry vehicle and burn up in the Martian atmosphere, while the InSight lander makes its final ascent with the assistance of a supersonic parachute and braking thrusters.
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Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now
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Виктор Левашов

Как я понял, они собираются до Марса за 5 месяцев добраться.
Старт в мае 2018.
Прибытие на Марс в ноябре 2018.

Как-то быстро.

tnt22

ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 6 мин. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE: InSight ready for final preparations for a trip to land on Mars -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/04/insight-final-preparations-trip-land-mars/ ...

- By Philip Sloss including photos from him at the media event.
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