{"id":15953,"date":"2018-05-02T12:50:28","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T16:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15953"},"modified":"2018-05-02T12:50:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T16:50:28","slug":"videos-insight-lander-mission-to-mars-set-to-lift-off-on-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15953","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Insight Lander mission to Mars set to lift off on Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

A ULA<\/a> Atlas V rocket is ready for launch this Saturday morning to send the Insight Lander<\/a> to Mars, where it will use a seismograph and other instruments to study the interior of the Red Planet. Liftoff is set for\u00a07:05 am EDT (4:05 am PDT, 1105 GMT). NASA TV coverage<\/a> of the launch from Vandenberg AFB in California will start at 6:30 am EDT. On Thursday at 4:00 pm EDT, NASA TV will broadcast a pre-launch briefing about the mission.<\/p>\n

InSight will be the first mission to peer deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet’s interior by measuring its heat output and listening for marsquakes, which are seismic events similar to earthquakes on Earth. It will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet\u2019s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars\u2019 formation will help us better understand how other rocky planets, including Earth, were and are created.<\/em><\/p>\n

JPL manages the InSight mission for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. InSight is part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver.<\/em><\/p>\n

Several European partners, including France’s space agency, the Centre National d’\u00c9tude Spatiales, and Germany\u2019s DLR, are supporting the mission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is an overview of the mission from NASA:<\/p>\n