Frida Space Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Well, InSight would have launched in two days... but there might be good news! Yesterday, InSight scientists presented a plan B to NASA officials. The plan calls of a May 5th, 2018 launch and a November 26th, 2018 landing. This delay would cost an additional 150 million dollars, which would fire InSight's budget 37% over the Discovery program cap. However, you have to consider that the spacecraft is fully built and that they "might have found a solution to the leak", as Banerdt stated. If it does get approved - "we hope to get the go-no go by the end of the week" - the additional costs will be covered by taking them from other programs, which is obviously very bad news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 48 minutes ago, Frida Space said: Well, InSight would have launched in two days... but there might be good news! Yesterday, InSight scientists presented a plan B to NASA officials. The plan calls of a May 5th, 2018 launch and a November 26th, 2018 landing. This delay would cost an additional 150 million dollars, which would fire InSight's budget 37% over the Discovery program cap. However, you have to consider that the spacecraft is fully built and that they "might have found a solution to the leak", as Banerdt stated. If it does get approved - "we hope to get the go-no go by the end of the week" - the additional costs will be covered by taking them from other programs, which is obviously very bad news. I hope they do that, what's better, taking a bit of money from certain programs with unbuilt spacecraft or cancelling a (Near) perfect lander that's already (Mostly fully built? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frida Space Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 (edited) We are go for launching in 2018! JPL will redesign and rebuild (from scratch?) the leaky seismometer. www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-targets-may-2018-launch-of-mars-insight-mission Edited March 9, 2016 by Frida Space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceception Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Frida Space said: We are go for launching in 2018! JPL will redesign and rebuild (from scratch?) the leaky seismometer. www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-targets-may-2018-launch-of-mars-insight-mission Whoooo! Btw, you need to change the thread name Edited March 9, 2016 by Spaceception Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB666 Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 On 12/22/2015 at 3:40 PM, Scotius said: NUTS! I hope the mission will be delayed, not cancelled completely - that would be awful. http://mars.nasa.gov/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1894 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredinno Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 2 hours ago, Frida Space said: We are go for launching in 2018! JPL will redesign and rebuild (from scratch?) the leaky seismometer. www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-targets-may-2018-launch-of-mars-insight-mission However, this likely means only one mission will be chosen for the discovery program this time around. 2 hours ago, Spaceception said: Whoooo! Btw, you need to change the thread name No he doesn't, the thread states the 2016 launch has been scrubbed, not the mission entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB666 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 http://www.nature.com/news/nasa-mars-woes-could-delay-other-planetary-missions-1.19549?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20160317&spMailingID=50933004&spUserID=Njk3NjE5NzEwMzgS1&spJobID=882060414&spReportId=ODgyMDYwNDE0S0 Nature editorial on InSight, suggest the delay and cracks could cost other missions 150 million dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredinno Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 4 hours ago, PB666 said: http://www.nature.com/news/nasa-mars-woes-could-delay-other-planetary-missions-1.19549?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20160317&spMailingID=50933004&spUserID=Njk3NjE5NzEwMzgS1&spJobID=882060414&spReportId=ODgyMDYwNDE0S0 Nature editorial on InSight, suggest the delay and cracks could cost other missions 150 million dollars. Well, we already knew that something like this was going to happen.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frida Space Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 I thought the news I posted above on March 9 was an official and final decision, but apparently it wasn't... well, now it is: NASA just announced the launch is officially postponed to May 5th, 2018, with Mars EDL occuring on November 26th, 2018. So now it's official: InSight is safe. Delay costs are 153.8 million USD. The highlight of the article (but again, we kinda knew it already) is this sentence: "The additional cost will not delay or cancel any current missions, though there may be fewer opportunities for new missions in future years, from fiscal years 2017-2020." http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-approves-2018-launch-of-mars-insight-mission I wonder if they could still chose two Discovery missions in the next round, one of which would be a sort of "mini-Discovery" costing 400ish million USD to compensate for InSight's delay costs. Although I guess it would hardly cover the launch costs.... It feels to me like a bit of waste to throw away an entire Discovery mission because of additional costs of one fourth-fifth of the total budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchz95 Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Either way, I'm glad they didn't scrap InSight. It doesn't deserve to die just because of one faulty instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 so is insight a phoenix derived lander? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Looks like the seismometer has been replaced, is not leaking https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/28/insight-landers-troubled-seismometer-passes-major-test/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shpaget Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Can somebody please explain why does it cost $150 million for a spacecraft to sit in a storage for a year? Ok, the seismometer needs to be rebuilt, but that is only a fraction of the $150 M. Is it personnel? Surely, they have other things to do besides standing in a circle around the bubble-wrapped spacecraft waiting for the next launch window, meaning they don't incur any additional cost. So, what is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncongruousGoat Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 17 minutes ago, Shpaget said: Can somebody please explain why does it cost $150 million for a spacecraft to sit in a storage for a year? Ok, the seismometer needs to be rebuilt, but that is only a fraction of the $150 M. Is it personnel? Surely, they have other things to do besides standing in a circle around the bubble-wrapped spacecraft waiting for the next launch window, meaning they don't incur any additional cost. So, what is it? It's probably got to do with the rocket. You can't leave a rocket sitting on the pad unattended for a few hours, much less two years. They (probably) had a vehicle prepped for the mission, or were building one, and had to either scrap it or re-purpose it, neither of which would come cheap. And, of course, a new vehicle needs to be built for the 2018 window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monophonic Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 36 minutes ago, IncongruousGoat said: It's probably got to do with the rocket. You can't leave a rocket sitting on the pad unattended for a few hours, much less two years. They (probably) had a vehicle prepped for the mission, or were building one, and had to either scrap it or re-purpose it, neither of which would come cheap. And, of course, a new vehicle needs to be built for the 2018 window. Also, dust-free storage isn't cheap. It requires extremely high quality filters, overpressure pumps, space built from special materials. Then you need to account for the operating costs of those e.g. electricity, periodically changing those filters, workforce etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 And this the spacecraft itself will need checks and maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 8 hours ago, IncongruousGoat said: It's probably got to do with the rocket. You can't leave a rocket sitting on the pad unattended for a few hours, much less two years. They (probably) had a vehicle prepped for the mission, or were building one, and had to either scrap it or re-purpose it, neither of which would come cheap. And, of course, a new vehicle needs to be built for the 2018 window. The atlas V that was supposed to be for InSight was repurpoused for worldview 4. also any idea if it will still launch from VAFB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shpaget Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Why keep the entire rocket prepped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Final tests and assembly have started https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/03/02/insight-lander-flown-to-california-for-final-launch-preps/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racescort666 Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they were launching from Vandenberg until here: Quote InSight could launch from Florida or California, but ULA and NASA agreed to launch InSight from Vandenberg to reduce the Atlas 5 team’s workload at Cape Canaveral, where up to a half-dozen flights are planned this year. [snip] InSight’s mass at launch is well below the maximum interplanetary lift capability of even the lightest Atlas 5 configuration. That means InSight does not require the extra boost of energy a rocket would obtain from the Earth’s rotation by launching to the east from Cape Canaveral. The Atlas 5 launching InSight will instead head south over the Pacific Ocean from Vandenberg I assume they plan on making a dogleg flight path? Is this one going directly into an Earth escape trajectory? I assume that ULA doesn't want to make it all the way to space with the first stage still attached like I did before I really got the hang of KSP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman4308 Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Racescort666 said: I assume they plan on making a dogleg flight path? Is this one going directly into an Earth escape trajectory? I assume that ULA doesn't want to make it all the way to space with the first stage still attached like I did before I really got the hang of KSP. They probably won't need to dogleg. They'll likely launch due-west at the right time of day so that their velocity vector is favorable (and they don't need to have much normal/anti-normal component) when it comes time for the Mars injection burn. Launching into a retrograde orbit means extra delta-V spent getting into orbit, but apparently they did so well keeping the mass low that they can launch from a retrograde parking orbit even with the 401 configuration. EDIT: If they do it even remotely like I do in RSS, they're likely going to be launching in night-time (atypical for transfers outwards) and burning towards Mars on the day side of the planet ~45 minutes later. Edited March 17, 2018 by Starman4308 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSEP Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Awww, Insight has little pets to help him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB666 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-cleanroom-where-nasas-new-mars-lander-waits-to-launch/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/24/insight-mars-lander-joined-with-atlas-5-launcher-at-vandenberg-air-force-base/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaPaL Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 In the video, it's said that it will take 2 months to deploy the experiments. I know that interplanetary stuff is made in a slow pace due to a lot of factors. But 2 months seems a lot just to put stuff on the ground. At first I thought that this time included the time to drill, but he said that what we were seeing in the animation would take 2 months, and it didn't include the drilling part. Anyone knows why this extremely low pace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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