This afternoon, NASA will attempt to land its latest spacecraft - a vehicle called InSight that will sit on the planet's surface and listen for quakes over the next two years - on Mars. But first, it must survive a harrowing descent to the ground. NASA plans to use multiple spacecraft around Mars to confirm that InSight lands intact.

Once the lander hits the top of Mars' atmosphere, it will perform a complicated multistep landing routine that will last between six and seven minutes. During the first phase, InSight will free-fall through the atmosphere using a heat shield for protection as the surrounding air slams into the spacecraft, heati …

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Early next week, NASA will attempt the grueling feat of landing a spacecraft on Mars, hoping to add to its growing collection of tech on the Red Planet's surface. This time, NASA hopes to place a robotic lander, called InSight, on a flat, boring part of the Martian terrain in order to study the planet's interior. And to do that, the car-sized robot must perform a perfectly synchronized landing routine - one that will slow the vehicle down from more than 12,000 miles per hour to zero in just six-and-a-half minutes.

Launched on May 5th from California, InSight has been traveling through space for the last six months and is scheduled to enter …

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On Saturday, NASA is launching its latest Mars explorer - a robot that will sit on the surface of the Red Planet and measure the world as it wobbles. This mission, InSight, is different from previous Mars vehicles, which studied the planet's surface. Instead, InSight will be helping scientists to peer underneath the crust, to learn more about Mars' insides, and that could tell us a whole lot about how this planet was born.

InSight is a lander, not a rover; once it touches down on Mars, it will stay put for the rest of its lifetime on the planet. From this stationary post, InSight will detect what are known as marsquakes. Like earthquakes, t …

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Inside a bright, cavernous room, a giant white metal box is rising toward the ceiling. A cable and pulley system tugs the box upward, and it ascends at just an inch a minute.

I'm staring at this box along with 30 or so other people, all of whom are wearing white. No, not wearing white - covered in white. Every person sports a white cloth onesie. No hands or shoes can be seen; all are shrouded in gloves and booties. Even hair doesn't exist here. Every head is veiled in more white cloth. The only exposed skin I can see are the small slivers of flesh around each individual's eyes. Mouths must be hidden, too.

I'm wearing the same odd outfit. I …

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