InSight: mission to Mars

Abstract

The InSight Mission will uncover the geophysical characteristics of Mars and use comparative planetary geophysical techniques to better understand the formation and evolution of Mars and thus by extension other terrestrial planets. The InSight spacecraft has heritage from the 2001 Mars Lander which was used for the Phoenix mission and from more modern missions for the spacecraft avionics. The mission also carries several instruments and sensors designed to achieve the science mission objectives. International partners contributed several of these sensors. This paper will describe the InSight mission and science objectives as well as some of the changes made to the mission when the launch date was postponed from 2016 to 2018.