
NASA’s InSight Mars lander is moving forward in testing, nearing “ship and shoot” status next year. The spacecraft is shown here fresh out of intense thermal vacuum test period.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Littleton, Colorado – InSight, NASA’s next Mars mission is rapidly approaching “ship and shoot” status next year. This Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — InSight for short space speak — has just completed “thermal vac” here at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company – builder of the Mars-bound craft.
Thermal vacuum testing (TVAC) simulates the cruel environment of space to appraise how the Mars-bound craft and its instruments operate under “flight-like” conditions.
For more information on this next NASA Mars mission, go to my new Space.com story at:
NASA’s Next Mars Lander Passes Big Test Ahead of May 2018 Launch
November 22, 2017 12:39pm ET
https://www.space.com/38868-nasa-mars-lander-insight-testing.html