Mars InSight spreads its solar wings

Mars Insight (source: NASA)

The Martian spacecraft InSight will be launched very soon. The goal of the mission is to study the planet’s interior using a seismometer, to study geodesy and heat flows in the crust. The launch is scheduled from the Launch Complex 3 launch site in Vandenberg. Atlas V launch vehicle will be used for launch. Planned date: from May 5 to June 8, 2018. Flight to Mars will take InSight'a about six months. During this time, he will cover about 485 million kilometers.

At present, Lockheed Martin conducted the final tests of the apparatus in Denver. This is the last time we will see a spacecraft before it arrives on the Red Planet.

Mars Insight (source: NASA)

Fan-shaped solar panels are specifically designed for the weak sunlight of Mars, due to the distance of the planet from the sun and its dusty, delicate atmosphere. The panels will provide energy to InSight for at least one Martian year (two Earth years).
Imagine that InSight first conducted a "physical examination" of Mars for 4.5 billion years - says Bruce Banerdt of JPL, (head of the research mission). “We will study his pulse with a seismometer. We will also study its temperature using a thermal probe, and check reflexes using a radio experiment. ”


Mars Insight (source: NASA)

In addition to the test of solar panels, engineers added the final touch: a microchip with more than 1.6 million people following the fate of the project. It complements the chip, containing almost 827,000 names that were immortalized aboard InSight back in 2015. A total of about 2.4 million names. “This is an interesting way to feel part of a mission,” says Banderdt. "We are happy that they were with us."

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