https://aviationweek.com/themes/custom/particle/dist/app-drupal/assets/awn-logo.svg
Skip to main content
  • Market Sector
    • Aerospace
    • Air Transport
    • MRO
    • Defense
    • Space
    • Business Aviation
  • Markets
    • Aerospace
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Connected Aerospace
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Manufacturing & Supply Chain
      • Advanced Air Mobility
      • Sustainability
    • Air Transport
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports & Networks
      • Airlines & Lessors
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
    • MRO
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Supply Chain
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Workforce & Training
      • Sustainability
    • Defense
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Sensors & Electronic Warfare
      • Missile Defense & Weapons
      • Supply Chain
      • Budget, Policy & Operations
      • Sustainability
    • Space
      • Launch Vehicles & Propulsion
      • Commercial Space
      • Space Exploration
      • Satellites
      • Budget, Policy & Regulation
      • Operations & Safety
    • Business Aviation
      • Aircraft & Propulsion
      • Interiors & Connectivity
      • Airports, FBOs & Suppliers
      • Flight Deck
      • Safety, Ops & Regulation
      • Maintenance & Training
      • Sustainability
  • Marketplace
  • Services
    • Services
      • Advertising
      • Marketing Services
      • Fleet, Data & APIs
      • Research & Consulting
      • Network and Route Planning
      • Marketplace
  • Store
    • Market Sector

      • Aerospace
      • Air Transport
      • MRO
      • Defense
      • Space
      • Business Aviation
    • Type View All Products
      • Intelligence Bundles
        • AWIN - Premium
        • AWIN - Aerospace and Defense
        • AWIN - Business Aviation
        • AWIN - Commercial Aviation
      • Market Briefings
        • Advanced Air Mobility Report
        • Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
        • Aviation Daily
        • SpeedNews
        • The Weekly of Business Aviation
      • Directories
        • Air Charter Guide
        • Aviation Week Marketplace
        • Route Exchange
        • The Engine Yearbook
      • Data Services
        • AC-U-KWIK
        • Aircraft Bluebook
        • Airportdata.com
        • Airport Strategy and Marketing (ASM)
        • CAPA – Centre for Aviation
        • Fleet Discovery Civil
        • Fleet Discovery Military
        • Fleet & MRO Forecast
        • MRO Prospector
      • Publications
        • Air Transport World
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology
        • Aviation Week & Space Technology - Inside MRO
        • Business & Commercial Aviation
        • CAPA - Airline Leader
        • Routes magazine
        • ShowNews
      • Resources
        • Downloadable Reports
  • Events
    • Recent webinars
    • Events View All Events
      • MRO
        • MRO Americas
        • MRO Asia
        • MRO Australasia
        • MRO Baltics & Eastern Europe Region
        • MRO Europe
        • MRO Latin America
        • MRO Middle East
        • MRO Southeast Asia
        • Military Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Symposium (MALMS)
      • Commercial Aviation/A&D
        • Aero-Engines Americas
        • Aero-Engines Europe
        • Aero-Engines Asia-Pacific
        • MRO Systems Integration Symposium
        • Engine Leasing Trading & Finance Europe
        • Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Americas
      • Air Transport
        • Routes Americas
        • Routes Europe
        • Routes World
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Airlines in Transition
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Americas
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Latin America & Caribbean
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Australia Pacific
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia & Sustainability Awards
        • CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World & Awards for Excellence
        • GAD Americas
        • GAD World
      • Aerospace and Defense
        • A&D Mergers and Acquisitions Conference (ADMA)
        • A&D Manufacturing Conference
        • Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference (RMC)
        • A&D Programs
      • Awards
        • Aviation Week 20 Twenties
        • Aviation Week Laureate Awards
        • ATW Airline Awards
        • Program Excellence Awards and Banquet
        • CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence
  • About
    • About Aviation Week Network
      • Our Story
      • Content and Data Team
      • Aviation Week & Space Technology 100-Year
    • Contact Us
      • Subscriber Services
      • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
      • Content Sales
      • Events
      • PR & Communications
      • Content Licensing and Reprints
      • FAQ
  • Log In
  • Register
  • My Account
    • Profile
    • Sign Out
  • AWIN Access
  • My cart
    Back to
  1. Aerospace

Share

Inside The Mars InSight Mission

Jen DiMascio December 07, 2018
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltec

The InSight lander took this image of Mars’ Elysium Planitia with its Instrument Context Camera, still shrouded by a dust cover, minutes after touchdown. The plain just north of the Martian equator provided a level landing surface with plenty of sunlight to power the lander’s solar arrays.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For this shot, InSight used a different camera—the Instrument Deployment Camera, which is mounted on a robotic arm that can capture a 45 X 45-deg. field of view.

Credit: NASA

A pair of cubesats known as Mars Cube One allowed engineers to monitor the landing by relaying InSight’s UHF telemetry and retransmitting the signals over X-band frequencies to Earth. The satellites are nicknamed EVE and WALL-E, after the robots in love that were featured in the 2008 animated movie, “WALL-E.”

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was a scene of celebration after the Nov. 26 landing. Among the revelers are Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager and Sue Smrekar, the deputy principal investigator.

Credit: Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin has built nine aeroshell entry systems to protect spacecraft from temperatures of up to 2,800F during entry into the Martian atmosphere. From there, the lander was slowed by a 39-ft.-dia. supersonic parachute and then a dozen Aerojet Rocketdyne MR-107N retrorockets for a gentle landing.

Credit: NASA

Given that InSight is focused on looking beneath Mars’ surface, its seismometer setup SEIS, for Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, is of utmost importance. The instruments will be covered by a dome-shaped housing to protect them from dust. The seismometers, sensitive enough to detect vibrations half the width of a hydrogen atom, will listen for low-frequency acoustical waves from Mars' quakes and meteor impacts. The measurements will help scientists understand the size and composition of the planet’s metal-rich core. It may even be able to determine whether liquid water or active volcanoes lie under the surface.

Credit: NASA Artist’s Concept

Germany’s Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package consists of a heat pipe that will be driven 16 ft. below the surface. The experiment uses a spring-driven internal hammer-like device to burrow into the ground and place a trailing cable laced with 14 sensors to collect temperatures at different depths. It will determine how much heat is coming from within Mars and the source of the heat, providing clues about Martian evolution.

Credit: NASA Artist’s Concept

The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, uses a pair of radio antennas to transmit a tone to Earth. Changes in the frequency will allow precise tracking of the lander’s location to determine how much Mars wobbles as it orbits the Sun, information that will flesh out computer models of the planet’s core and structure.

Previous
Next

Unlike previous robotic probes, which focused on Mars’ surface, atmosphere or near-space environment, InSight—the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport spacecraft—is designed to study what exists from about 1 mi. beneath the planet’s surface to its metal core, some 1,000 mi. below. Here is a look at the images it has sent back and the instruments it will use.

See Also

NASA InSight Spacecraft Nails Mars Landing

Cubesats Relay Live Entry, Descent And Landing Telemetry From Mars

Jen DiMascio

Based in Washington, Jen previously managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.

Aviation Week Intelligence Network
Monitor the market and connect your business to the people, programs and proprietary data driving the Aerospace & Defense market - only available with AWIN.

ASD_AWIN_thumbnail_270

Stay Connected.
Stay Informed
Grow Your Business.

Learn How

Follow us on

Markets

  • Aerospace
  • Air Transport
  • MRO
  • Defense
  • Space
  • Business Aviation

Products

  • AWIN Intelligence Bundles
  • Market Briefings
  • Publications
  • Data Services
  • Directories
  • Resources

Contact Us

  • Subscriber Services
  • Advertising, Marketing Services & List Rentals
  • Content Sales
  • Events
  • PR & Communications
  • Content Licensing and Reprints
  • FAQ

Other Resources

  • Aviation Week Marketplace
  • Knowledge Center
  • Newsletters
  • ShowNews
  • Advertising - Media Kits
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC.
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use