InSight Cruise Phase, Events during Mars transit prior to EDL Options

[PaulH51]

Does anyone know what happens to MarCO-A & MarCO-B after they complete the communications relay of the InSight EDL data?

Is there any more science planned? Or do they simply head away from Mars basically following the cruise stage?

[ElkGroveDan]

On a side note, I have been trying to come up with a good EDL song to play that day on the way into work.

Bruce Springsteen
I'M GOIN' DOWN

We sit in the car outside your house, I can feel the heat coming 'round
I go to put my arm around you and you give me a look like I'm way out of bounds
Well, you let out one of your bored sighs, well lately when I look into your eyes
I'm going down, down, down, down
I'm going down, down, down, down
I'm going down, down, down, down
I'm going down, down, down, down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fdZWbIsrFk

[Paolo]

Or do they simply head away from Mars basically following the cruise stage?

I think the cruise stage re-enters with the lander

[MahFL]

Does anyone know what happens to MarCO-A & MarCO-B after they complete the communications relay of the InSight EDL data?

Is there any more science planned? Or do they simply head away from Mars basically following the cruise stage?

They are in the orbit of the upper stage, not the cruise stage.

[dmuller]

Hello again ... those who have been here a decade ago(!) for Phoenix may remember my realtime simulations. They've been running since, however I was too busy at work to further develop them, but I am once again sacrificing sleep trying for a new home for them and managed to get one up for InSight (fingers crossed bug-free):

https://spaceoutreach.com/spaceflight/insight/

Note times are SCET (I dont have time to do ERT) and Entry Interface is inferred from the published trajectory data. Also, my main interest is in the astrodynamics of it all, i.e. until we hit entry interface, so EDL data may not make it into the sim in time for landing.

Re cruise stage, it separates too close to Mars to deflect it, so it will trail (I presume) InSight and burn up in the atmosphere. If the separation speed is 1m/s (I think it's more in reality), it will be almost 500 meters behind InSight, and has lots more drag so even if something isnt burning up it will not match the downrange of Insight itself.

Dont forget to buy peanuts.

[PaulH51]

They are in the orbit of the upper stage, not the cruise stage.

I'm not sure how much they adjusted that trajectory, but they both completed at least one trajectory-correction maneuver after they separated from the upper stage, see this (Link)

The reports I have read, state that their mission will end shortly after the Insight EDL communication link is completed, I was just curious if there were any other science activities planned before their mission ends. For example, could they use any of the remaining thruster propellants to point their camera at Mars as they pass by? Be great outreach if they could do that

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

Not a statistically likely event. For InSight, the cruise stage separates before the turn to entry - it's not directly following InSight into the atmosphere.

For Phoenix it was calculated a minimum distance of 6 meters between cruise stage (or its debris) and the lander during EDL, before they uploaded the corrective maneuver.

Both the image and the URL are missing...

The requested URL /space/exploration/insight/screenshot1.png was not found on this server.

The requested URL /space/exploration/insight/insight-edl-simulator.html was not found on this server.

of course! I forgot the server name...
http://win98.altervista.org/space/explorat...-simulator.html

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

my main interest is in the astrodynamics of it all, i.e. until we hit entry interface, so EDL data may not make it into the sim in time for landing.

Good because I wasn't able to find any data for pre-entry phase!

[Explorer1]

For example, could they use any of the remaining thruster propellants to point their camera at Mars as they pass by? Be great outreach if they could do that

They already took images of Earth after departure, and there was one of Mars approach as well back at the start of October ( https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7263 ). It would be nice to see just one more, though since their main mission is data relay, it's hard to say if we can get an 'approach movie' that doesn't interrupt that.

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

Can anybody help? I found this description:

The Level 2 data files in the RDR_DATA subdirectory contain the following data:
Spacecraft Clock count: Units = seconds
Relative time from a defined entry state: Units = seconds
The altitude of the spacecraft above the landing site: Units = seconds
Planetocentric latitude of the spacecraft at the time of sample acquisition: Units = degrees
Planetocentric east longitude of the spacecraft at the time of sample acquisition: Units = degrees
Speed of the Phoenix entry probe at the given location: Units = m/s

But I can't find this RDR_DATA folder it refers to.
Apart from the wrong unit of measure, the highlighted data could be possibly more precise than radial distance from Mars center I'm currently using for the simulator.

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

For example, could they use any of the remaining thruster propellants to point their camera at Mars as they pass by? Be great outreach if they could do that

BTW, will MRO be in good position for this EDL?

[Explorer1]

Yes, 3 minutes before touchdown an image will be attempted (see Emily's excellent write-up): http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda...ng-preview.html

[djellison]

Does anyone know what happens to MarCO-A & MarCO-B after they complete the communications relay of the InSight EDL data?

Is there any more science planned? Or do they simply head away from Mars basically following the cruise stage?

The cruise stage enters Mars and burns up (maybe a few pieces will survive to impact)

MarCO A and B each get a little gravity assist that changes their trajectory - so they start getting further and further apart from one another.

From an engineering perspective, I believe the intent is to keep in contact with them for as long as they hold up. At some point their prop systems will be exhausted and they'll no longer be able to maintain pointing for solar power and comms - and they'll go silent.

(InSight, MarCO A and B are all in Eyes on the Solar System......there just isn't a landing module for InSight like there was for Curiosity)

They have cameras. They'll be flying by Mars. Fingers crossed...there will be pics.

[Guest_mcmcmc_*]

Yes, 3 minutes before touchdown an image will be attempted (see Emily's excellent write-up): http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda...ng-preview.html

Who better than you can know? (nice avatar)

[Gerald]

...But I can't find this RDR_DATA folder it refers to...

Maybe this document, and the according server and directories could be a better point to start from.
See also this LBL file together with this table.