May 5, 2018 · The twin communications-relay CubeSats, built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, constitute a technology demonstration called Mars Cube One (MarCO). CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies.

Mars Cube One (or MarCO) was a Mars flyby mission launched on 5 May 2018 alongside NASA's InSight Mars lander. [5] It consisted of two nanospacecraft, MarCO-A and MarCO-B , that provided real-time communications to Earth for InSight during its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on 26 November 2018 - when InSight was out of line of sight from the ...

Mars Cube One (MarCO) An artist’s rendering of the twin MarCO spacecraft flying over Mars with Earth in the distance. The MarCOs are the first CubeSats, a kind of modular mini-satellite, to fly to deep space. They were designed to fly along with NASA’s InSight lander on its cruise to Mars.

A technology demonstration called Mars Cube One (MarCO) will be the first deep space use of miniature, modular "CubeSat" spacecraft design. The pair of briefcase-size spacecraft -- MarCO-A and B -- will launch on the same rocket as InSight and carry out a number of risky communication and navigation flight experiments.

Mar 19, 2018 · The twin MarCO CubeSats are will be the first to travel into deep space, flying with NASA’s InSight lander when it launches in May. Arriving at the Red Planet in November, these CubeSats will help provide realtime communication between the lander and NASA’s DSN (Deep Space Network) here on Earth.

A technology demonstration called Mars Cube One (MarCO) is the first deep space use of the miniature, modular “CubeSat” spacecraft design. The pair of briefcase-sized spacecraft -- MarCO-A and B -- launched on the same rocket as InSight.

Jan 20, 2016 · Joel Steinkraus, lead mechanical engineer for the MarCO (Mars Cube One) CubeSat spacecraft, adjusts a model of one of the two spacecraft. The mock-up in the photo is in a configuration to show the deployed position of components that correspond to MarCO’s two solar panels and two antennas.

Nov 27, 2019 · Known as MarCO, they’re the first CubeSats — compact spacecraft made up of cube-shaped units — to travel into deep space. Designed and built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a technology demonstration, MarCO launched to the Red Planet last year with NASA’s InSight lander.

Oct 22, 2018 · One of the twin MarCO CubeSats snapped this image of Mars on Oct. 3 – the first image of the Red Planet ever produced by this class of tiny, low-cost spacecraft. The two CubeSats are officially called MarCO-A and MarCO-B but nicknamed “EVE” and “Wall-E” by their engineering team.

Jun 12, 2015 · NASA’s two small MarCO CubeSats will be flying past Mars in 2016 just as NASA’s next Mars lander, InSight, is descending through the Martian atmosphere and landing on the surface. MarCO, for Mars Cube One, will provide an experimental communications relay to inform Earth quickly about the landing.