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The InSight satellite travels the solar system towards Mars as part of its unique scientific mission: to be the first instrument to study the red planet from within.
He is nearing the end of his nearly seven-month trip and his 300 million miles that is expected to land on November 26th.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, engineers and scientists who designed and built the mission – including at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton – are on hold.
"I've been dreaming about this mission and science for almost 40 years and have been actively seeking it for at least 25 years," said Bruce Banerdt, NASA's lead investigator for InSight. "And so, get to this point where we are less than a month from our landing on Mars and doing this science is a real pleasure for me."
Banerdt was speaking at a scientific briefing held Wednesday at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, but aired live in media outlets around the world.
Lori Glaze, Acting Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, said the InSight mission is a combined global effort from the United States, France, Germany, the United States, and the United States. England, Poland, Switzerland and Spain.
"The contributions of all these countries have come together with the US and NASA to build an incredible scientific payload that can measure heart rate and really understand Mars from the inside," said Glaze. "It's an amazing feat."
InSight is synonymous with inland exploration using seismic surveys, geodesy and heat transport. He joins a growing fleet of planetary missions already deployed or developing on Mars.
"And they are all trying to answer the fundamental questions we have about how our solar system has formed and evolved," Glaze said. "Where does it come from and how did we get to where we are today?"
InSight will be the first and only, to date, to do so by studying the Martian interior, which should provide fascinating evidence of the origins of other rocky planets, such as Earth.
The lander will use a set of six seismometers to collect new data on sound waves generated by earthquakes and meteors, much like using sonograms from the planet.
These waves can help scientists understand what lies beneath the Martian crust to its molten nucleus.
InSight will also deploy a thermal probe, called "mole", to dig to a depth of 10 to 16 feet below the surface and conduct temperature readings along the way. These readings will provide clues as to how the planet stores and releases energy.
But before the LG can start performing his cool and forward-thinking science, he must reach the surface safely.
That's where NASA Langley comes in – engineers and scientists from Langley have contributed to the development of the mission's entry, descent and landing part.
And throughout the InSight journey, they monitored, analyzed and tested the machine, made course corrections, all to ensure that it could drop intact instruments in one piece.
"The spacecraft is in excellent health," said Robert Maddock, head of the InSight EDL team in Langley on Wednesday. "There were no problems."
On Tuesday, engineers performed a reboot test to see how the ship would react if it lost contact with NASA or went into safe mode.
At the right moment, they turned off all the gear's systems and forced it to go into safety mode. Then they fed everything and reloaded all the orders.
Even though they repeated the same test several times, Maddock said, the result was even more alarming.
"It's tense at all times up there," he said. "We could do something or do nothing – it's still a nervous time."
Four or five days before the scheduled landing, the team will follow all defined procedures, develop all data products and make all necessary decisions for a safe landing. Last week, the team helped carry out a dry campaign for this process.
The Martian climate, especially the dust storms for which the planet is known, is one of the key factors to take into account.
The EDL team has already taken into account all kinds of weather events in thousands of computer simulations.
"We've looked at a very wide range of what we think (could happen), from irresistible clarity to unrealistic dust – dustier than ever," said Maddock.
"So, I think of everything that could be expected, we did an analysis to show that everything is fine."
The spacecraft is still 5 million miles from Mars, too far to predict the surface conditions of the chosen landing site – a huge flat plain called Elysium Planitia. But, in good weather or fault, the lander will settle around 15 hours. November 26
"We are on our way, whether we like it or not," said Maddock.
Due to Mars' so thin atmosphere, it is difficult to slow down large payloads at blazing entry speeds until it slowly rises to the 5 mph level.
Fortunately, NASA Langley has a lot of experience in this field, from the 1970s Viking landing gear – the first gear to land intact and operational on Mars – to the Curiosity scientific rover in 2012.
Here is the NASA InSight drafted by NASA:
Entry will begin approximately 80 miles above the surface, at a speed of approximately 13,200 mph. A few minutes later, at an altitude of 12 km and at a speed of 100 km / h, a parachute will be deployed.
Moments later, the heat shield will be dropped and the craft will deploy its landing legs and turn on its thrusters.
Finally, just 800 meters from the surface and at a speed of 100 km / h, the undercarriage will separate from the machine and its thrusters will bring it to a safe touch.
Maddock and his team plan to be at NASA's JPL for landing; they are scheduled to go there next week.
Once InSight has finally appeared, the team will perform post-EDL analyzes. But, for the most part, their work will be finished.
"Overall, the team is very excited," said Maddock. "We are very confident that we have done our job and it is truly an exciting time. But also, it's a bit bittersweet.
"I mean, I've been working on it for five or six years now. And think in 30 days, everything is done. Everything you've worked on is now complete. So it's a little sad.
InSight should collect scientific data for two terrestrial years, about a year on Mars.
Contact Dietrich at 757-247-7892 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at DP_Dietrich
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