184 lbs (84 kg)23 in (58 cm)Sputnik
3 lbs (1.33 kg)2U4U3UMultiple Units
4 in
(10 cm)4 in (10 cm)
4 in (10 cm)One Unit
WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 13
SMALL PACKAGES. CubeSats are small,
cost-effective satellites that can be built
quickly and launched with minimal
fuel. A single Unit (U) is about 4 by 4
by 4 inches (10 by 10 by 10 centimeters)
and weighs 3 pounds (1.33 kilograms)
or less. CubeSats can be constructed
with dimensions of 1U, 2U, 3U, or
6U. Most are designed for short-term,
low-Earth-orbit missions. The first
interplanetary CubeSat mission, Mars
Cube One (MarCO), sent two identical
CubeSats to Mars alongside the InSight
lander. Not only did MarCO prove
these devices can be used beyond
Earth orbit, they successfully relayed
information during InSight’s landing
back to Earth before flying by Mars
and ending their mission. — A.K.A single CubeSat Unit is about
the size of a Rubik's cube.A digging instrument called
the “mole” on NASA’s Mars
InSight lander’s Heat Flow and
Physical Properties Package
has been stuck in the martian
soil since February 28. The
mole, which auto-hammers its
way into the ground like a long
spike, may have hit a rock,
halting its forward progress.
But the issue could be that
its sandy surroundings are
too soft for the mole to gain
any friction, which it needs
to burrow into the dirt. On June 28, engineers directed InSight’s robotic arm to lift the mole’s support
structure out of the way, giving a clearer view of the instrument’s progress and the potential problem.
This image, taken with the arm’s Instrument Deployment Camera, shows the arm still holding the mole’s
black support structure; the silver spike is visible in the ground. Based on the view, engineers now think
the soil is to blame. They hope to use the robotic arm’s scoop to press on the dirt near the hole, filling it
in to provide the mole with friction to keep digging. — K.H., A.K.Insight uncovers the mole
HOW CUBESATS
STACK UP
FAST FACT
1,
The amount of
radio and optical
telescope data,
in terabytes,
released by
the Search for
ExtraTerrestrial
Intelligence
(SETI)
Breakthrough
Listen project to
the public. It is
the largest SETI-
related data
release to date.
AS
TRONOMY:^RICK^ JOHNSONNASA/JPL-CAL
TE
CH