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MarCO Wins the 'Oscar' for Tiny Spacecraft The first briefcase-size CubeSats
to journey to another planet have been honored for their role in NASA InSight's
successful Mars landing. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
(AIAA) bestowed their Small Satellite Mission of the Year award to Mars Cube
One, or MarCO,
Aug. 8, 2019, at the annual Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.
Designed and built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, MarCO consists of two CubeSats nicknamed WALL-E and EVE after characters in a Pixar film. With the pair flying behind NASA's InSight lander as it cruised to the Red
Planet last year for its Nov. 26, 2018, descent to the Martian surface, WALL-E
and EVE enabled the InSight team to monitor the landing in near-real time by
relaying signals from the lander back to Earth.
Along the way, WALL-E sent back stunning images of Mars while EVE performed
some simple radio science. All of this was achieved with experimental
technology that cost a fraction of what most space missions do.
"It is a significant honor to be recognized by our
peers at this particular conference," said MarCO Chief Engineer Andy Klesh
of JPL. "These are the engineers crafting bold new designs to explore the solar
system. We hope MarCO was a pathfinder mission for them."
Accepting the award was JPL's Glen Elliott, an engineer with
NASA's Deep Space Network who
worked with the MarCO team. Also present were students and faculty representing
the several universities who gained first-hand experience supporting the
mission.
JPL has had a heavy presence at the Small Satellite
Conference. The Lab's RainCube
spacecraft was also a finalist this year; last year, JPL's ASTERIA took home the same
award.
"We're proud that our spacecraft have won 'Small Satellite
of the Year'," said Planetary SmallSat Program Manager John Baker.
"These innovative designs are blazing a trail for future explorers."
For more information
about MarCO, go to:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php
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