Tag: MarCO
-
NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday. The pioneering Mars Cube One, or MarCO, mission set records…
-
NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats fall silent beyond Mars
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After a successful mission that pushed the limits of small satellite technology, ground controllers have lost contact with two briefcase-sized CubeSats beyond Mars, NASA said Tuesday. The pioneering Mars Cube One, or MarCO, mission set records…
-
First interplanetary CubeSats already setting records in deep space
Artist’s concept of the MarCO CubeSats. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Two CubeSats developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched May 5 with the InSight mission to Mars have deployed their miniaturized antennas and captured a distant family portrait of the Earth and the moon. The twin spacecraft have already set a distance record for CubeSats, and they…
-
Photos: Shrouded in fog, Atlas 5 takes flight from Vandenberg
A layer of fog intruding on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California kept nearby observers from seeing any sign of Saturday’s predawn launch of an Atlas 5 rocket carrying a robotic NASA probe to Mars. The only images of the Atlas 5’s fiery takeoff came from remote cameras placed at the launch pad, or from…
-
After foggy departure, it’s clear sailing to Mars for InSight lander
A fog layer at Vandenberg Air Force Base prevented nearby observers from viewing the launch of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars, but viewing points farther away from the launch site had clear skies. This long exposure photo was captured at Ventura, California. Credit: William G. Hartenstein Making a fiery climb into a foggy sky Saturday…
-
Two ‘microprobes’ to accompany InSight lander to Mars
Mechanical engineer Joel Steinkraus and systems engineer Farah Alibay hold a full-scale mechanical mock-up of a MarCO CubeSat. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA managers have formally approved the launch of two small CubeSat-based satellites with the InSight Mars lander next year, adding an experimental data relay capability to give ground controllers news about the landing’s outcome. Hundreds…