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NASA Mars InSight Overview

March 29, 2018

NASA's next mission to Mars is weeks away from 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.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Mars has the same basic internal structure as the Earth and other terrestrial (rocky) planets. 
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This graphic illustrates that Mars has the same basic internal structure as the Earth and other terrestrial (rocky) planets.
Insight Pie Charts
When NASA's InSight lands on Mars, it will be the first mission on another planet to use a robotic arm to grasp instruments and place them on the surface.  
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When NASA's InSight lands on Mars, it will be the first mission on another planet to use a robotic arm to grasp instruments and place them on the surface.
Crazy Engineering: Space Claw
An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft flying over Mars with Earth in the distance.
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An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft flying over Mars with Earth in the distance.
MarCOs, Mars and Earth
Get your boarding pass to fly your name on the next mission to Mars
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Get your boarding pass to fly your name on the next mission to Mars
Get Your Boarding Pass
Engineers use a replica of NASA's InSight lander, which will launch to Mars later this year, at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
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engineers in lab with spacecraft
InSight Testbed at JPL
Second dime-size microchip carrying 1.6 million names gets processed for installation onto the InSight lander.  
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Second dime-size microchip carrying 1.6 million names gets processed for installation onto the InSight lander.
Second Microchip Gets Ready for Launch
NASA's InSight spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final preparations for launch.
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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.
Mars InSight Arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base
Engineer Joel Steinkraus stands with both of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 
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Engineer Joel Steinkraus stands with both of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Both MarCO Spacecraft
The NASA InSight team reacts after receiving confirmation that the spacecraft successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, inside the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory i...
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The NASA InSight team reacts after receiving confirmation that the spacecraft successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, inside the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
InSight's Touchdown
Personnel supporting NASA's InSight mission to Mars load the crated InSight spacecraft into a C-17 cargo aircraft at Buckley Air Force Base, Denver, for shipment to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif...
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Personnel supporting NASA's InSight mission to Mars load the crated InSight spacecraft into a C-17 cargo aircraft at Buckley Air Force Base, Denver, for shipment to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The spacecraft, built in Colorado by Lockheed Martin Space, was shipped February 28, 2018, in preparation for launch from Vandenberg in May 2018.
Shipping InSight Mars Spacecraft to California for Launch
Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 
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Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Alternate: MarCO Being Tested in Sunlight
Growing up, NASA-JPL engineer Farah Alibay didn't have a role model who was an engineer and a woman of color. Now, she hopes she can play that role for the next generation as Mars Cube One (MarCO) ...
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Engineer Tests CubeSats for Better Communication at Mars
Meet MarCO: Engineer Tests CubeSats for Better Communication at Mars
This artist's concept shows the InSight spacecraft, encapsulated in its aeroshell, as it cruises to Mars. 
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This artist's concept shows the InSight spacecraft, encapsulated in its aeroshell, as it cruises to Mars.
InSight Cruises to Mars (Artist's Concept)
Engineers for NASA's MarCO (Mars Cube One) technology demonstration inspect one of the two MarCO CubeSats. 
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Engineers for NASA's MarCO (Mars Cube One) technology demonstration inspect one of the two MarCO CubeSats. Joel Steinkraus, MarCO lead mechanical engineer, left, and Andy Klesh, MarCO chief engineer, are on the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, preparing twin MarCO CubeSats.
MarCO CubeSat Engineers 3
The self-hammering mole, part of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) on NASA's InSight lander, was only partially buried in the soil of Mars as of early June 2019, as shown in this ...
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The self-hammering mole, part of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) on NASA's InSight lander, was only partially buried in the soil of Mars as of early June 2019, as shown in this illustration.
Current Position of InSight's Mole (Illustration)
While in the landed configuration for the last time before arriving on Mars,
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While in the landed configuration for the last time before arriving on Mars,
NASA's Mars InSight Lander: Solar Array Deployment Test (Time Lapse)
Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior.
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Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior.
InSight's Landing Site: Elysium Planitia
Mars is experiencing large regional dust storms over its northern hemisphere during the past week.
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This movie was acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Mars Colour Imager (MARCI) camera.
The Martian Dust Storm of June 2018
InSight captured this image of one of its dust-covered solar panels on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
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InSight captured this image of one of its dust-covered solar panels on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
InSight's Dusty Solar Panel
These craters were formed by a Sept. 5, 2021, meteoroid impact on Mars, the first to be detected by NASA’s InSight. Taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, this enhanced-color image highlights...
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These craters were formed by a Sept. 5, 2021, meteoroid impact on Mars, the first to be detected by NASA’s InSight.
InSight Detects an Impact for the First Time
One of the MarCO CubeSats inside a cleanroom at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, before being placed into its deployment box.
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One of the MarCO CubeSats inside a cleanroom at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, before being placed into its deployment box.
MarCO and Dispenser
The payload fairing of the Atlas V rocket that would launch NASA's InSight lander to Mars is lifted up so that it can be mated to the top of the rocket.
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The payload fairing of the Atlas V rocket that would launch NASA's InSight lander to Mars is lifted up so that it can be mated to the top of the rocket.
InSight Payload Fairing Lift and Mate
NASA InSight's robotic arm will use its scoop to pin the spacecraft's heat probe, or "mole," against the wall of its hole.
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NASA InSight's robotic arm will use its scoop to pin the spacecraft's heat probe, or "mole," against the wall of its hole.
Preparing to Pin the Mole
NASA's InSight lander deployed its Wind and Thermal Shield on Feb. 2 (Sol 66). The shield covers InSight's seismometer, which was set down onto the Martian surface on Dec. 19.
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NASA's InSight lander deployed its Wind and Thermal Shield on Feb. 2 (Sol 66). The shield covers InSight's seismometer, which was set down onto the Martian surface on Dec. 19.
InSight Deploys Its Wind and Thermal Shield
In this photo, a spacecraft specialist prepares NASA's InSight spacecraft for thermal vacuum testing in the flight system's "cruise" configuration for its 2016 flight to Mars.
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In this photo, a spacecraft specialist prepares NASA's InSight spacecraft for thermal vacuum testing in the flight system's "cruise" configuration for its 2016 flight to Mars.
Preparing NASA's InSight for Space Simulation Testing

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