InSight Launching to Mars

"In some ways InSight is like a scientific time machine that will bring back information about the earliest stages of Mars' formation four-and-a-half billion years ago. It will help us learn how rocky bodies form, including Earth, its moon and even planets in other solar systems."

May 5, 2018, 4:05 am PDT (7:05 EDT, 11:05 UTC) NASA is scheduled to launch the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the InSight spacecraft destined for Mars’ northern hemisphere. The launch will take place in California at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. This will be the first interplanetary mission to launch from America’s west coast, the first dedicated to Mars' deep interior, and the first NASA mission since the Apollo moon landings to place a seismometer on the soil of another planet.

InSight, short for "Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport," uses cutting edge instruments to explore beneath the surface of the planet to measure its "pulse" (seismology), "temperature" (heat flow), and "reflexes" (precision tracking) to allow scientists to study the process of planet formation and evolution. (Source: NASA)

Related Legislation

H.R. 5503 (IH) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2018
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124 Stat. 3328 - An act to enact certain laws relating to national and commercial space programs as title 51, United States Code, ''NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS''
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51 U.S.C. - NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS
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Budget FY 2019 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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H. Rept. 115-649 - AMERICAN SPACE COMMERCE FREE ENTERPRISE ACT OF 2017
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DCPD-201700901 - Remarks on Signing a Memorandum on Reinvigorating America's Human Space Exploration Program
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House Hearing, 115th Congress - AN UPDATE ON NASA EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
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Resources

• Explore NASA’s website for more information about InSight and the journey to Mars.
• Interact with the InSight mission via NASA’s social media: Facebook and Twitter.
• Search govinfo for information in the Federal Register related to NASA's Mars exploration.
• Visit the Government Publishing Office’s online bookstore to purchase a copy of ”NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration,” or to browse other available products produced by NASA.