PIA22203: InSight Lander Solar Array Test


InSight Lander Solar Array Test

Caption:

View the time lapse video

While in the landed configuration for the last time before arriving on Mars, NASA's InSight lander was commanded to deploy its solar arrays to test and verify the exact process that it will use on the surface of the Red Planet. During the test on Jan. 23, 2018 from the Lockheed Martin clean room in Littleton, Colorado, engineers and technicians evaluated that the solar arrays fully deployed and conducted an illumination test to confirm that the solar cells were collecting power.

Background Info:

The InSight Project is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

For more information about InSight, visit http://insight.jpl.nasa.gov . Additional information on the Discovery Program is available at http://discovery.nasa.gov .

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission InSight
Instrument Host InSight Lander
Host Type Lander
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2018-01-23
Date in Caption 2018-01-23
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22203
Identifier PIA22203