{"id":18539,"date":"2018-05-03T19:29:52","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T11:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/its-showtime-for-launch-of-nasas-mars-lnsight-lander-and-its-piggyback-probes\/"},"modified":"2018-05-03T19:29:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T11:29:52","slug":"its-showtime-for-launch-of-nasas-mars-lnsight-lander-and-its-piggyback-probes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/its-showtime-for-launch-of-nasas-mars-lnsight-lander-and-its-piggyback-probes\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s showtime for launch of NASA\u2019s Mars lnSight lander (and its piggyback probes)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_417488\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-417488\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-417488\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-insight-630x601.jpg\" alt=\"Mars InSight\" width=\"630\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-insight-630x601.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-insight-768x733.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-insight-1260x1202.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-insight.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-417488\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s impression shows the Mars InSight lander and a cutaway view of Mars\u2019 subsurface, with the lander\u2019s heat probe deployed underground. (NASA Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA\u2019s Mars InSight lander is being prepped for a launch that will send some magical science and engineering toward the Red Planet, including two pint-sized piggyback probes and a seismometer that can measure distances less than the width of an atom.<\/p>\n<p>Now, if only NASA could work its magic on the weather for Saturday\u2019s scheduled 4:05 a.m. PT liftoff from California\u2019s Vandenberg Air Force Base.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is an 80 percent chance you will not be able to see the rocket launch at liftoff. \u2026 We are anticipating visibility to be bad that day,\u201d Air Force 1st Lt. Kristina Williams, weather officer for the 30th Space Wing, said today at a pre-launch briefing.<\/p>\n<p>The launch pad is expected to be socked in with fog for NASA\u2019s first-ever interplanetary launch from the U.S. West Coast. But that fog won\u2019t necessarily hold up liftoff for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that\u2019s primed to send Mars InSight spaceward.<\/p>\n<p>NASA and ULA \u201care prepared to launch through it\u201d if everything else is go for launch, Williams said. And a day and a half before launch, everything else is indeed go.<\/p>\n<p>After a murky start, it should be clear sailing for the nearly $1 billion U.S.-European mission, which will measure Mars\u2019 seismic activity and interior temperature shifts. The mission\u2019s name is an acronym of sorts, standing for \u201c<strong>In<\/strong>terior Exploration Using <strong>S<\/strong>eismic <strong>I<\/strong>nvestigations, <strong>G<\/strong>eodesy and <strong>H<\/strong>eat <strong>T<\/strong>ransport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mars InSight\u2019s car-sized spacecraft was built on the same basic platform that was used for the Phoenix Mars Lander a decade earlier, with a totally new set of instruments and electronics. It\u2019s due to touch down on Elysium Planitia, a plain near the Martian equator, on Nov. 26 after a six-month, 300 million-mile cruise.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"NASA Mars InSight Overview\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LKLITDmm4NA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>Sensitive seismometer<\/h4>\n<p>The spacecraft\u2019s main instrument is a seismometer that\u2019s designed to detect the deep rumblings of the Red Planet, due to \u201cMarsquakes\u201d as well as meteorite strikes. Data sent back to Earth will help scientists figure out Mars\u2019 internal structure.<\/p>\n<p>The seismometer is sensitive enough to measure movements amounting to half the radius of a hydrogen atom, according to the mission\u2019s principal investigator, Bruce Banerdt of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s so sensitive, in fact, that the quake-detecting apparatus has to be enclosed in a vacuum chamber and shielded from the wind and from Mars\u2019 temperature swings.<\/p>\n<p>Getting this part of the mission right held back Mars InSight\u2019s launch by more than two years. When the French-built equipment was tested back in 2015, engineers found a slight leak in the vacuum chamber. The leak couldn\u2019t be fixed in time for the original launch date in 2016, so NASA had to wait another 26 months for the planets to align again.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ixo8RGDf5dU<\/p>\n<h4>Measuring Mars<\/h4>\n<p>After Mars InSight\u2019s&nbsp;robotic arm deploys the seismometer, it will stretch out again to deploy a heat probe, officially known as Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe or HP3, but nicknamed the \u201cmole.\u201d The mole will hammer its way through Martian soil, to a depth of as much as 16 feet.<\/p>\n<p>Temperature sensors attached to the mole will take readings at various depths, revealing precisely how much heat is escaping from Mars\u2019 interior. That should give scientists a better idea about what Mars is made of, down deep.<\/p>\n<p>Mars InSight\u2019s radio antennas will be used for science as well: They\u2019ll receive transmissions from Earth and sent them back in such a way that the signals\u2019 subtle Doppler shift can be measured precisely. Scientists should be able to measure changes in distances amounting to as little as a foot, across a span of tens of millions of miles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, that\u2019s as close as you can get to magic and still be science,\u201d Banerdt said. He said measurements of the Red Planet\u2019s wobble on its axis will help scientists determine the size of its core, its density and its composition.<\/p>\n<p>Mars InSight should shed new light on the origins of the solar system, in part because Mars retains more of its long-ago geological history than our active Earth does.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe call it the Goldilocks planet: It\u2019s not too big, it\u2019s not too small, it\u2019s just right. \u2026 We have lots of geology going on at the surface, but all of those fingerprints of [ancient] processes are still retained in the deep interior,\u201d Banerdt said.<\/p>\n<p>NASA chief scientist Jim Green said learning about Marsquakes will also help the space agency get ready to send astronauts to the Red Planet and build habitats there. \u201cHow quake-prone is Mars? That\u2019s fundamental information that we need to know as humans explore Mars,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"NASA Crazy Engineering Cube Sats - Mars Cube One MarCO\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DMwbRDmKLGU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>Rocket ride-share<\/h4>\n<p>The Mars InSight lander isn\u2019t the only spacecraft packed aboard the mission\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket: Two CubeSat probes, each about the size of a jumbo cereal box, will test technologies that could be used for future miniaturized space missions. They\u2019re due to be deployed about an hour and a half after launch and follow parallel paths to their own Mars flybys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is really a collaboration of the entire CubeSat community, building upon all the effort that has been done over the last 20 years, that allows us to take the first CubeSats out to deep space,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Andy Klesh, chief engineer for the MarCO piggyback missions.<\/p>\n<p>The CubeSats will test a propulsion system that uses compressed gas, much like the stuff that\u2019s bottled up in fire extinguishers. The probes are officially known as MarCO-A and MarCO-B&nbsp;\u2014 but they\u2019ve been nicknamed WALL-E and EVE, after the stars of the animated film \u201cWALL-E,\u201d because fire-extinguisher propellant played a crucial role in getting those robots out of a space jam.<\/p>\n<p>WALL-E and EVE will also test a new type of flat, foldable radio antenna that\u2019s designed to provide as much capability as a traditional parabolic dish. The system will be used to relay signals from the Mars InSight lander as it makes its descent to the Martian surface.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s one more tiny payload hitching a ride to Mars: a pair of silicon microchips that bear the etchings of more than 2.4 million names. The names were sent in as part of a public outreach campaign.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_417487\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-417487\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-417487\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-visible-630x328.jpg\" alt=\"Atlas Mars InSight launch visibility\" width=\"630\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-visible-630x328.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-visible-768x400.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/180503-visible.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-417487\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This map shows areas where the ascent of Mars InSight\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket could be visible. (ULA Graphic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>Looking for launch<\/h4>\n<p>NASA is scheduled to start webcast coverage of Saturday\u2019s Mars InSight countdown at 3:30 a.m. PT. If the launch has to be scrubbed, due to weather or technical issues, NASA can try, try again until June 8, when this year\u2019s window closes. After June, the next opportunity doesn\u2019t come around until 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Scott Messer, United Launch Alliance\u2019s program manager for NASA missions, said Vandenberg was chosen for the Mars InSight launch because the schedule for liftoffs from Florida was looking \u201ca little crowded,\u201d and because the payload was light enough to take advantage of California\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Vandenberg is best suited for launches into a pole-to-pole orbit, which is fine for Earth-orbiting satellites but typically not as good for interplanetary missions. For Mars InSight, mission planners mapped out an unusual route to deep space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to end up doing one orbit, like a polar orbit, and then we\u2019re going to make a left turn on our way to Mars,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Tom Hoffman, who\u2019s the project manager for Mars InSight.<\/p>\n<p>Because the Atlas 5 pushes the probe southward from Vandenberg, the rocket\u2019s ascent should be visible along a stretch of the California coast extending from north of San Luis Obispo to south of San Diego.<\/p>\n<p>That is, assuming you\u2019re not stuck in the fog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s impression shows the Mars InSight lander and a cutaway view of Mars\u2019 subsurface, with the lander\u2019s heat probe deployed underground. (NASA Illustration) NASA\u2019s Mars InSight lander is being prepped for a launch that will send some magical science and engineering toward the Red Planet, including two pint-sized piggyback probes and a seismometer that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[927,367,190],"class_list":["post-18539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-insight","tag-mars","tag-nasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}