The InSight Mars lander, NASA's future robotic explorer to the Martian surface, has reached its assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO) phase.
The lander, along with a protective aeroshell casing and cruise stage are being assembled in Denver, Colorado, by the Lockheed Corporation.
Segments of the vehicle, including electrical supplies, avionics, thermal, and navigational systems are arriving at the assembly facility. There, engineers will spend six months assembling the pieces into a complete system.
"This is a very satisfying point of the mission as we transition from many teams working on their individual elements to integrating these elements into a functioning system... We will then move rapidly to rigorous testing when the spacecraft has been assembled, and then to the launch preparations," Tom Hoffman, Insight project manger, said.
Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) will analyze the surface of Mars, in order to ascertain details of the formation of terrestrial planets during the formation of our solar system.
The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package aboard the lander will measure geothermal heat flowing from the core of the planet toward the surface.
The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) will examine vibrations through the planet, caused by meteorite strikes and minor marsquakes.
A robotic arm will deploy instruments, which can burrow through the top layer of the Martian surface.
"By studying the size, thickness, density and overall structure of the Red Planet's core, mantle and crust, as well as the rate at which heat escapes from the planet's interior, the InSight mission will provide glimpses into the evolutionary processes of all of the rocky planets in the inner solar system," InSight program managers wrote on the mission homepage.
Even the radio signal between InSight and NASA's Deep Space Network antennas on Earth will be used as part of an experiment. By carefully studying variations in the signal, astronomers will be able to carefully measure small variations in the orbit of Earth, which could reveal whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid.
Mars may be the ideal planet to study in order to determine the processes that shaped the four inner-most planets of the solar system, including the Earth. The red planet is massive enough to have experienced separation of geological layers, but small enough to have preserved records of that differentiation to the current day.
InSight is scheduled to launch to Mars in March 2016, and to arrive on the Red Planet later that year. The primary science mission for insight is scheduled to last 720 after landing, ending in September 2018.
