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Showing posts from April, 2018

NASA's InSight Lander

               InSight - Studying the 'Inner Space' of Mars A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-078, will launch NASA’s InSight lander to Mars.  InSight will touch down in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars in November 2018 to study the Martian interior and search for ongoing seismic activity. The rocket will fly in the 401 vehicle configuration with a four-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.  The InSight mission seeks to uncover how a rocky body forms and evolves to become a planet by investigating the interior structure and composition of Mars. The mission will also determine the rate of Martian tectonic activity and meteorite impacts. The phases of the InSight mission include: Pre-Launch :   Preparing for the mission includes pre-project planning, science definition and instrument selection, landing site selection, assembly and testin...