NASA's success on Mars CubeSat paves the way for smaller probes in deep space

NASA's first spacecraft, MarCO CubeSats, traveled in deep space. He successfully relayed the information provided by the newest Mars-based robot – the InSight satellite – paving the way for the launch of smaller planetary probes in the future. The CubeSats, a twin communications relay, built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, was launched May 5 with the InSight lander that hit the surface of the planet Mars on Monday.

CubeSats are a clbad of spacecraft based on a small modular use of commercially available technologies. Many have been made by university students and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using an additional payload mbad available when launching larger spacecraft. The mission objectives of the two small Mars Cube One (MarCO) who were transmitting InSight telemetry were completed after flying over the planet Martian, NASA said in a statement. "This is a giant step for our intrepid robotic explorers the size of a briefcase," said Joel Krajewski, Project Manager MarCO at JPL.

MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, returned an image of Mars. Approximately 6,000 kilometers away during its flight over the Red Planet on November 26. "I think the CubeSats have a great future beyond the Earth's orbit and that the MarCO team is happy to chart the way," Krajewski said. "The MarCO CubeSats experiment also opened a new door to the smaller planetary spacecraft.

The success of these two unique missions is a tribute to the hundreds of talented engineers and scientists who have put their genius and their work at the service of this day's success, "he said. MarCO is a CubeSat of six units – approximately the size of a briefcase – approximately 14.4 x 9.5 x 4.6 inches in size.