"MarCO" redirects here. For other uses, see Marco (disambiguation).
Mars Cube One (A & B)
Rendering of the two MarCO spacecraft in communications relay
Mission type
Communications relay test Mars flyby
Operator
NASA
Website
www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php
Mission duration
MARCO A: 7 months and 30 days MARCO B: 7 months and 24 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type
6U CubeSat
Manufacturer
JPL
Launch mass
13.5 kg (30 lb) each[1]
Start of mission
Launch date
5 May 2018 (2018-05-05), 11:05 UTC[2]
Rocket
Atlas V 401
Launch site
Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-3E
Contractor
United Launch Alliance
End of mission
Disposal
Abandoned In Solar Orbit
Declared
2 February 2020
Last contact
MarCO-A: 4 January 2019 (2019-01-04)[3] MarCO-B: 29 December 2018 (2018-12-29)[3]
Orbital parameters
Reference system
heliocentric
Flyby of Mars
Closest approach
26 November 2018, 19:52:59 (2018-11-26UTC19:52:59) UTC
Distance
3,500 km (2,200 mi)[4]
Discovery program
← GRAIL
Lucy →
Mars Cube One (or MarCO) was a Mars flyby mission launched on 5 May 2018 alongside NASA's InSight Mars lander.[5] It consisted of two nanospacecraft, MarCO-A and MarCO-B, that provided real-time communications to Earth for InSight during its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on 26 November 2018 - when InSight was out of line of sight from the Earth.[6] Both spacecraft were 6U CubeSats designed to test miniaturized communications and navigation technologies. These were the first CubeSats to operate beyond Earth orbit, and aside from telecommunications they also tested CubeSats' endurance in deep space. On 5 February 2019, NASA reported that both the CubeSats had gone silent by 5 January 2019, and are unlikely to be heard from again.[3] In August 2019, the CubeSats were honored for their role in the successful landing of the InSight lander on Mars.[7]
The InSight lander re-transmitted its telemetry data during the landing, which demonstrated the new relay system and technology for future use in missions to other Solar System bodies. This provided an alternative to the orbiters for relaying information and achieved a technology development threshold.
After the MarCO satellites went silent in January 2019, there was a chance that communications with the satellites could be reestablished in the second half of 2019 as the satellites moved into more favorable location in space. NASA launched a campaign to establish communication with the satellites in September 2019. The communication attempts were unsuccessful and on 2 February 2020 NASA announced Mars Cube One mission formally ended.[8]
^Mars InSight Launch Press Kit. NASA, 2018.
^Clark, Stephen (9 March 2016). "InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
^ abcGood, Andrew; Wendel, JoAnna (4 February 2019). "Beyond Mars, the Mini MarCO Spacecraft Fall Silent". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
^MarCO: Planetary CubeSats Become Real. Van Kane, The Planetary Society. 8 July 2015.
^Stirone, Shannon (18 March 2019). "Space Is Very Big. Some of Its New Explorers Will Be Tiny. - The success of NASA's MarCO mission means that so-called cubesats likely will travel to distant reaches of our solar system". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^Asmar, Sami; Matousek, Steve (20 November 2014). "Mars Cube One (MarCO) - The First Planetary CubeSat Mission" (PDF). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2017. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
^Good, Andrew; Johnson, Alana (9 August 2019). "MarCO Wins the 'Oscar' for Tiny Spacecraft". NASA. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
^"RIP, MarCO! The world's first cubesats to Mars are gone for good". Space.com. 28 February 2020.
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Global Information
