Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Destination: Alpha Centauri => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2018, 09:39:11 PM

Title: NASA's Next Mars Lander Passes Key Test Ahead of May Launch
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2018, 09:39:11 PM

NASA's Next Mars Lander Passes Key Test Ahead of May Launch
Space.com
By Leonard David, Space.com's Space Insider Columnist |  January 25, 2018 07:27am ET



LITTLETON, Colo. — NASA's next Mars mission — a lander designed to probe the Red Planet’s deep interior and eavesdrop on rumbling Marsquakes — is reaching "ship and shoot" status.

As spacecraft names go, this one's is a mouthful: Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. That has been mercifully shortened to InSight.


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Technicians unfurl the InSight Mars lander's solar arrays during a key test at a Lockheed Martin Space Systems facility in Colorado on Jan. 23, 2018.  Credit: Lockheed Martin

 
A wonderful moment came early Tuesday morning (Jan. 23) for Barbara and me here at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, which built InSight for NASA: the unfurling of the lander's solar arrays.


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On the floor with InSight during the solar array test: shameless selfie!  Credit: Leonard David
 

Technicians took great care in monitoring the deployment of the solar panels. That process was part of the late-stage testing campaign ahead of InSight's departure to its launch site, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Liftoff of the spacecraft is targeted for May 5!


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InSight's solar panels performed as planned during the test, NASA officials said.  Credit: Lockheed Martin


https://www.space.com/39485-mars-insight-lander-solar-arrays-unfurled.html (https://www.space.com/39485-mars-insight-lander-solar-arrays-unfurled.html)