Suggested Searches

3 min read

NASA Brings Mars Landing, First in Six Years, to Viewers Everywhere Nov. 26

NASA's InSight lander descending toward the surface of Mars.
This illustration shows a simulated view of NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander firing retrorockets to slow down as it descends toward the surface of Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet at approximately 3 p.m. EST Nov. 26, and viewers everywhere can watch coverage of the event live on NASA Television, the agency’s website and social media platforms.

Launched on May 5, InSight marks NASA’s first Mars landing since the Curiosity rover in 2012. The landing will kick off a two-year mission in which InSight will become the first spacecraft to study Mars’ deep interior. Its data also will help scientists understand the formation of all rocky worlds, including our own.

InSight is being followed to Mars by two mini-spacecraft comprising NASA’s Mars Cube One (MarCO), the first deep-space mission for CubeSats. If MarCO makes its planned Mars flyby, it will attempt to relay data from InSight as it enters the planet’s atmosphere and lands.

InSight and MarCO flight controllers will monitor the spacecraft’s entry, descent and landing from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where all landing events will take place.

Broadcast Schedule (all times Eastern)

Times and speakers are subject to change. Media can participate in the news conferences by phone. Plus, media and the public can ask questions on social media during the events by tagging them with #askNASA.

Wednesday, Nov. 21

  • 1 p.m. – News conference: Mission engineering overview
  • 2 p.m. – News conference: Mission science overview

Sunday, Nov. 25

  • 1 p.m. – News conference: Final prelanding update
  • 4 p.m. – NASA Social: InSight team Q&A

Monday, Nov. 26: Landing Day

  • 6 to 10 a.m. – Live interviews with mission experts
    • To book an interview, media must contact Mark Petrovich at mark.petrovich@jpl.nasa.gov or 818-393-4359.
  • 2 to 3:30 p.m. – Live landing commentary on the NASA TV Public Channel
    • An uninterrupted, clean feed from cameras inside JPL Mission Control, with mission audio only, will be available on the NASA TV Media Channel.
  • No earlier than 5 p.m. – Post-landing news conference

Public Viewing

About 80 live viewing events for the public to watch the InSight landing will take place around the world. For a complete list of landing event watch parties, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/watch-in-person/

For a full list of websites broadcasting InSight landing events, go to:

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/watch-online/

An InSight landing press kit is available online at:

https://go.nasa.gov/insight_pk

 Follow the mission on social media at:

https://facebook.com/NASAInSight

-end-

Dwayne Brown / JoAnna Wendel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1003
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / joanna.r.wendel@nasa.gov
Arielle Samuelson / Jia-Rui Cook
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-5011
arielle.a.samuelson@jpl.nasa.gov / jccook@jpl.nasa.gov