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This artist's concept depicts the stationary NASA Mars lander known by the acronym InSight at work studying the interior of Mars.

Elysium Planitia, the landing site for InSight, is a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior.

About Image

This artist's concept depicts the stationary NASA Mars lander known by the acronym InSight at work studying the interior of Mars.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin

Elysium Planitia, the landing site for InSight, is a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior.NASA/JPL-Caltech

May 3, 2018

Feature Story

InSight Prepares for Launch

Launch window opens May 5, 2018

Written byAaron Gronstal

The launch window for NASA’s next mission to Mars opens on May 5, 2018. The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission will study Mars ‘in-depth,’ returning data about the planet’s crust, mantle, and core.

The launch period for InSight is May 5, 2018 to June 8, 2018. The mission will leave the Earth onboard an Atlas V-401 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This will be the first interplanetary mission to launch from the west coast of the United States.

The lander is scheduled to reach Mars on Nov. 26, 2018, touching down in an area known as Elysium Planitia. This location is a flat plain just north of the martian equator. The smooth surface of Elysium Planitia makes it idea for the seismic investigations that InSight will perform. Elysium Planitia was chosen from twenty two candidate sites, and is roughly 600 kilometers from Gale Crater, the landing sight of the Curiosity rover.

Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

By studying the interior of Mars, InSight will help astrobiologists unravel the processes by which rocky planets in our solar system formed, and could provide information relevant to understanding how rocky planets can evolve into habitable worlds. The deep subsurface of Mars remains a mystery today, and is intrinsically linked to the potential for past or present life on the planet.

Watch the Launch Live

News briefings and launch commentary for InSight will be streamed on NASA TV, NASA.gov/live, YouTube.com/NASAJPL/live and Ustream.tv/NASAJPL. Any additional feeds or streams will be listed in the “Watch Online” section of mars.nasa.gov.

The science deck of NASA's InSight lander is being turned over in this April 29, 2015, photo from InSight assembly and testing operations inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin.

A Secondary Payload

In addition to InSight, the Atlas V-401 will also carry a second experiment to Mars. The Mars Cube One (MarCO) is a set of mini-spacecraft that will travel to Mars behind InSight. Roughly the size of briefcases, the two CubeSats will test miniaturized deep space communication equipment. They are the first CubeSats sent to deep space and, if successful, will help relay data from InSight as it enters the martian atmosphere for its landing at Elysium Planitia.

An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

For more information about InSight, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/