NASA to Provide Update on InSight Mars Lander

A thin layer of Martian dust can be seen coating InSight in this selfie taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera on the lander’s robotic arm. The image is made up of 14 shots captured March 15 and April 11, 2019, the 106th and 133rd Martian days, or sols, of the mission.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) on Tuesday, May 17, to provide an update on the agency’s InSight Mars lander. NASA leadership and mission team members will highlight InSight’s science accomplishments, share details on the spacecraft’s power situation, and discuss its future.

Audio of the briefing, as well as supporting graphics, will livestream at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

The teleconference participants will include:

  • Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington
  • Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California
  • Kathya Zamora Garcia, InSight deputy project manager, JPL

To participate in the call, media must RSVP no later than three hours prior to the start of the event to Rexana Vizza at: [email protected]. Valid media credentials are required and the agency’s media accreditation policy is available online. Media and the public can submit questions on social media during the teleconference using #AskNASA.

InSight landed in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars in November 2018 with the goal of studying the planet’s deep interior for the first time, using seismic signals to learn more about the properties of the crust, mantle, and core. Answering these questions helps shed light on how all rocky worlds form, including Earth and its Moon.

After InSight met the goals of its two-year-long prime mission, NASA extended the mission until December 2022. However, due to dust accumulation on its solar panels, InSight’s electrical power production is dropping, and the mission is unlikely to continue operations for the duration of its current extended mission unless its solar panels are cleared by a passing “dust devil” in Mars’ atmosphere.

Visuals to accompany the teleconference will be available shortly before it starts at:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/insight-update-telecon

TNC

Rod Washington:  Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He also produces news and documentary video projects. Check out his podcast StoriesThisMoment at https://m3e.d71.myftpupload.com/stm-tncn-podcasts/