The weather cooperated and so begins a 300-million-mile trip to Mars for NASA's Mars InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) where it will study for the first time what lies deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet. InSight launched at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 am PDT) Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Riding the Centaur second stage of the rocket, the spacecraft reached orbit 13 minutes and 16 seconds after launch. Seventy-nine minutes later, the Centaur ignited a second time, sending InSight on a trajectory towards the Red Planet. InSight separated from the Centaur 14 minutes later — 93 minutes after launch — and contacted the spacecraft via NASA's Deep Space Network at 8:41 a.m. EDT (5:41 PDT).
InSight is scheduled to land on the Red Planet in the Elysium Planitia region around 3 p.m. EST November 26, where it will conduct science operations until November 24, 2020, which equates to one year and 40 days on Mars, or 728 Earth days, nearly two Earth years.
According to NASA, it is "the first mission dedicated to understanding the internal structure of Mars." The lander will dig deeper into Mars than ever before — nearly 16 feet or 5 meters — to take the planet's temperature. It will also attempt to make the first measurements of marsquakes, using a seismometer placed directly on the Martian surface.
"InSight will not only teach us about Mars, it will enhance our understanding of formation of other rocky worlds like Earth and the Moon, and thousands of planets around other stars," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency headquarters in Washington. "InSight connects science and technology with a diverse team of JPL-led international and commercial partners."
The two-year InSight mission seeks to understand the evolutionary formation of rocky planets, including Earth, by investigating the interior structure and processes of Mars. InSight will also investigate the dynamics of Martian tectonic activity and meteorite impacts, which could offer clues about such phenomena on Earth.
InSight is the first interplanetary mission launched from the West Coast, because of the performance of the Atlas V rocket, which also will launch two CubeSats.
InSight is the 38th Atlas V rocket to launch in the 401 configuration and the 78th Atlas V to launch since the inaugural flight in 2002.
ULA and its heritage rockets have launched every U.S.-led mission to Mars, including the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers as well as the MAVEN satellite.
InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough checkup since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. It is the first outer space robotic explorer to study in-depth the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.
Studying Mars' interior structure answers key questions about the early formation of rocky planets in our inner solar system — Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars — more than 4 billion years ago, as well as rocky exoplanets. InSight also measures tectonic activity and meteorite impacts on Mars today.
This mission is part of NASA's Discovery Program for highly focused science missions that ask critical questions in solar system science.
Their goal is to test new miniaturized deep space communication equipment and, if the MarCOs make it to Mars, may relay back InSight data as it enters the Martian atmosphere and lands. This will be a first test of miniaturized CubeSat technology at another planet, which researchers hope can offer new capabilities to future missions.
If successful, the MarCOs could represent a new kind of communication capability to Earth. InSight's mission success, however, is independent of its CubeSat tag-alongs.