NASA's MarCO CubeSats takes its first picture of Mars

These are the very first CubeSats sent to study the red planet and are currently on Mars behind the NASA InSight probe.

Earlier this month, a tiny NASA satellite captured its first snapshot of Mars. And, although we have seen many spectacular photos unveiling the secrets of the red planet – taken by orbiters and observers of Mars, both from the Martian space and ground – the news is extremely significant.

Revealed yesterday by the Space Agency, this is the very first image of Mars taken by a CubeSat – an experimental clbad of mini-satellites designed to demonstrate innovative technology.

The new Mars photo was taken by one of the MarCO satellites – the twin CubeSat sent to study the red planet alongside NASA's InSight mission, as reported by Inquisitr ]. NASA has a multitude of CubeSats, but these are the very first mini-satellites to have ventured out of Earth's orbit to explore another planet.

Nicknamed "Wall-E" and "Eve" – ​​after the famous Pixar Characters – the MarCO CubeSats returned their first photo of Earth a few days after their launch on May 5, reported Inquisitr ] at the time. Five months later, the camera now has Mars in sight – and in front of the camera.

The photo was taken on Oct. 2 by the MarCO-B satellite, also known as "Wally-E" – the same CubeSat that took the photo of The Earth on May 9th.

Captured at a distance of about 12.8 million kilometers, this image depicts Mars as "The pale red dot," NASA officials wrote on October 22nd on Twitter . This statement echoes the Earth's "Light Blue Point" image taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

The snapshot shows Mars as a small red dot in the lower right corner, framed by elements of the satellite's high-gain antenna. The photo was taken after several tests, during which the MarCO team back on Earth programmed the CubeSat "to rotate in the space so that the bridge of his body" boxy " points to Mars, "says NASA in the photo release.

Up to now, MarCO CubeSats have traveled 399 million kilometers on their long journey to Mars, of which there remains about 85 million kilometers (85 million kilometers) to their destination.

six months to arrive on Mars, "said Cody Colley, head of the MarCO mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "The cruising phase of the mission is always difficult, so you take all the little victories when they show up. Finally, seeing the planet is definitely a big win for the team. "

First image of Mars by CubeSat! On October 2, one of our twin satellites #MarCO took this picture. The pair has about 53 million miles to reach Mars. They will present communications during the landing of @NASAInSight on the red planet. Take a closer look: https://t.co/6FfMBOnrDC pic.twitter.com/RajKnGaM1m

– NASA (@NASA) October 22, 2018

The tiny spaceships are no bigger than a briefcase and are currently lagging behind the InSight probe – which will deploy next month a lander on the red planet. The twin MarCO satellite will follow the InSight lander to attempt to land on Mars on November 26 and keep us informed of the sequence of entry, descent and landing of the craft. spatial.

Nevertheless, their mission is strictly on the demonstration of the CubeSat technology, the InSight landing relying mainly on the Mars reconnaissance orbiter for the communication relay.