Making Our Galactic Deep-Space Network a National Priority for Mars and Beyond

An artist's rendering of the twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft as they fly through deep space. They are the first CubeSats attempting to travel to another planet and are designed to fly along behind NASA's InSight lander on its cruise to Mars to test relaying data about InSight's entry, descent, and landing back to Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech

There was no shortage of cheers, hugs, and shared congratulations at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Nov. 26, after NASA’s InSight mission successfully touched down on the surface of Mars.

The InSight team was jubilant after Mission Control received the success tones beamed back from MarCo A and B—two small neighboring satellites no bigger than suitcases (called CubeSats) that hitched a ride with the InSight lander—and even more so when the first image of the Martian surface came back, its lens polluted with grains of beautiful dust and red coloring from the Martian sand.