NASA InSight Landing on Mars: Milestones

illustration shows a simulated view of NASA's InSight lander — This illustration shows a simulated view of NASA’s InSight lander descending on its parachute toward the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

On Nov. 26, NASA’s InSight spacecraft will blaze through the Martian atmosphere and attempt to set a lander gently on the surface of the Red Planet in less time than it takes to hard-boil an egg. InSight’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) team, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, along with another part of the team at Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, have pre-programmed the spacecraft to perform a specific sequence of activities to make this possible.