Tag: InSight
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Photos: NASA’s InSight lander buttoned up for trip to Mars
The payload fairing of InSight’s Atlas 5 launcher was closed around the spacecraft April 16. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing Now cocooned inside a heat shield and the nose shroud of an Atlas 5 rocket that will send it to Mars, NASA’s InSight lander is awaiting launch May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.…
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Atlas 5/InSight launch windows
Artist’s concept of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying NASA’s InSight lander toward Mars will have a roughly two-hour predawn launch window each day from May 5 through June 8 to boost the science…
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InSight Mars lander joined with Atlas 5 launcher at Vandenberg Air Force Base
File photo of a payload being lifted atop an Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base before a previous mission. Credit: United Launch Alliance Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast hoisted NASA’s InSight Mars lander atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Monday, kicking off nearly two weeks…
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InSight ready for final preparations for a trip to land on Mars
NASA’s InSight Mars lander is ready for the final processing sprint before its launch opportunity opens in a month’s time. NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin held a media day for the spacecraft, whose long name is the “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport,” at its Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site…
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NASA’s InSight lander inside one month to launch toward Mars
InSight’s heat shield (left) will soon be re-installed on the Mars lander (right) in preparation for launch May 5 from 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…
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Atlas 5 rocket assembled for first Mars mission launch from Vandenberg
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…
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Make-believe Mars: Get a 360-degree view of the testbed for NASA’s InSight lander
Engineers test a replica of NASA’s InSight lander as it lifts a wind shield with its robotic arm, under Mars-style illumination in a testbed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (NASA / JPL via YouTube) When NASA’s InSight lander touches down on Mars in November, its handlers already will have had lots of practice operating its…
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InSight lander flown to California for final launch preps
NASA’s InSight spacecraft, seen here in its launch configuration shortly after arriving at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, is set for launch May 5. Credit: Lockheed Martin NASA’s robotic InSight Mars lander arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this week aboard a U.S. Air Force cargo plane, ready for final testing, fueling and…
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Mars InSight mission passes TVAC testing ahead of 2018 launch
NASA’s “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight)” mission has received another boost ahead of launch, as the spacecraft passed its Thermal vacuum (TVAC) milestone in Colorado. The mission remains on track for May of next year, which will involve the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast. InSight Mission: The latest battery…
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Mars spacecraft back on track to provide InSight into the Red Planet
NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is back on track for a 2018 launch after the discovery of leaks in key instrumentation during testing forced NASA to abandon its original 2016 launch date. The spacecraft is now in final testing at its Lockheed Martin facility in Denver, ahead of…