Mars InSight Mission

NASA is doing cool things all the time and each new mission seems to top the last mission. In fact, there are so many missions going on at any given time that it's easy to forget what's going on. This is particularly true with Mars where there are multiple on-going missions. I admit to completely forgetting about the InSight mission.

What is InSight? According to NASA's website on the mission:

"InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough checkup since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. It is the first outer space robotic explorer to study in-depth the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core."

Okay, so that's super cool! This is not one of the rovers that move around on the surface, but a lander that remains stationary where it sets down. The mission actually launched earlier this year on May 5, 2018 and is scheduled for touch-down on the Martian surface on November 26, 2018. That's only a bit more than a month away! While we wait for the first set of data from this mission to arrive, take a few moments to watch the video of the launch. Satellite and shuttle launches always amaze me! 

InSight Mission to Mars Launch

You look at all the problems in the world and it seems impossible this world will ever be a better place, but then you take a look at how we put people into space and continue to send spacecraft into the outer Solar System. This is a huge achievement! Each and every launch is an amazing thing and gives me a little bit of hope we'll be able to use this same type of team-work to handle the world's other problems.