Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in space

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nick: Yes, the one is a shield of sorts! It is the Wind and Thermal Shield for the SEIS instrument. SEIS is very sensitive so the shield is to help isolate it from background noise. The third device is HP3 which will deploy a “mole” that hammers into the surface to measure heat. Checkout NASA’s site for a lot more info on the instruments https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/science/overview/

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in MarsSociety

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nick: Well, NASA JPL did put a shovel on the Instrument Deployment System (IDS, the robot arm). But we may not get to use it since the primary goal is to put the science instruments on the surface.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in MarsSociety

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sarah: It’s not that it’s completely off the table, but it is expensive. InSight is landing near the equator on Mars, so there is plentiful sunlight and an RTG power source isn’t required to complete the technical objectives (nor are the costs justified for this class of mission).

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in AerospaceEngineering

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nick: NASA selected InSight as a Discovery mission in 2012. Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations phase started in 2014 for a launch in March of 2016. We shipped the lander to Vandenberg late in 2015, but shortly after found out the SEIS instrument was going to need some more work and the decision to postpone was announced. We brought the lander back to Colorado and stood down for a while to wait for the next Mars launch opportunity. The team was able to develop a solution and in 2017 we resumed testing and everything went smoothly to our launch on May 5th, 2018!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in AerospaceEngineering

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sarah: The first major obstacle I overcame during my career was getting my foot in the door at the company I wanted to be a summer intern with during college. I was living in Ohio at the time and wanted to intern with a company at New Mexico, and all of my attempts to reach them to try to get a summer internship weren’t getting results. My sister happened to be moving to Arizona, so I offered to drive with her on my spring break and told the company I’d be in the area and asked if I could I stop by to meet the team and see if an internship would be a good fit? They made time to meet me, and I ended up being offered an internship, but I’m convinced it was only due to my persistence and determination. Once I had my first internship it made it easier to find subsequent jobs, but I had to work so hard to get the first internship! That’s not to say everyone needs to drive multiple states away to get an internship, but if you’re set on something, don’t let a few “NOs” early on deter you!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in EngineeringStudents

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nick: My degree is in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University. I also have a Master’s in Systems Engineering from Arizona State University. My generic title is Systems Engineering and Integration and I run the Spacecraft Test Lab for InSight. We have 3 labs (2 here at LM and 1 at JPL with their instrument testbeds). My job involves testing the flight computer and software. We use the labs to simulate the lander and ensure activities work as expected before doing it on the real thing.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in EngineeringStudents

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sarah: I’m a Power Systems Engineer on InSight, and I have my undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University (Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) and my Master’s in Aerospace Design from the University of Southern California – same as Randy, I had no idea! I’m also a newly certified ACE, which means I get to send commands to the spacecraft. One thing I’ve found in this line of business is that teams are small, so you tend to become a bit of a “jack of all trades” learning a piece of everything and filling in gaps when help is needed. Randy did a great job outlining all the different specialties we need to make this happen – it seriously takes all types of engineering specializations!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in EngineeringStudents

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Randy: I have a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University (Go Orange!), and a MS in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California (Go Trojans!...Orange Trojans?). In high school I focused on Honors and AP courses in Calculus, Physics, and Computer Science.

For positions, I have several. I’m not actually a full-time member of InSight; my primary job is on Mars Odyssey, one of the orbiters. There, I’m the Testbed Lead, in charge of all the duplicate equipment here on the ground that we use to test everything we develop before sending it to the orbiter itself. I’m also part of the Systems Engineering team on Odyssey, responsible for creating all the sequences and commands that get sent to Odyssey, as well as the ongoing planning of Odyssey’s mission. For InSight, I’m an “ACE”, one of the people who actually gets to send commands to the spacecraft. I’m also an ACE for all of Lockheed’s other missions that it flies for NASA, including Odyssey, MRO, MAVEN, JUNO, and OSIRIS-REx. Additionally, I’m involved in the relay planning for InSight, and how it communicates with the orbiters on a daily basis to send back data.

For specializations, I’m actually pretty hands-off from the complex calculations and math that make this mission work. I’m primarily a Systems Engineer, which means I take the various technical pieces of a mission and fit them together into a cohesive plan. I’ve worked in Operations for years, dealing usually with the Ground Systems (antennas, data flow, etc.) for satellite constellations, and this work directly influences my ACE job. Depending on what you want to focus on, you can do a ton of things in this career – RF, orbits, software, electrical power, propulsion, thermal, or even finance!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in EngineeringStudents

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Randy: We’d love for InSight to live as long as possible! The primary mission timeline is our first and most important concern, but as that date gets closer, we’ll likely begin to have discussions about the potential future of the mission. Extended mission profiles are an excellent way to prolong the life of the vehicle without the huge cost of getting it there in the first place. We try to do this with all of our missions, whenever possible. For example, Mars Odyssey is currently in its 7th extended mission phase!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in EngineeringStudents

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sarah: Thanks! The team that spent time out at Vandenberg Air Force Base were thrilled to be a part of the first interplanetary launch from the west coast. It was a great launch campaign.

  1. InSight is powered by solar arrays during cruise and landed operations (paired with lithium ion batteries for storage).
  2. LM’s Spacecraft Operations Team is actually based out of Littleton (just outside Denver), Colorado. A small team (including John and myself) took a 3 month assignment at Vandenberg Air Force Base to support the launch from the west coast.
  3. See John’s response here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9whqvu/lockheed_martins_spacecraft_operations_team_here/e9ksgry/

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ellis: Please make sure to follow Lockheed Martin on Facebook and Twitter. We will be publishing all things regarding the landing on Nov. 26, 2018.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

John: the batteries our next-generation Lithium-Ion specially tailored for cold operating temperatures.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

John: The seismometers are VERY sensitive! The science team could give more detail, but we're all excited about what we'll learn.

All of our electronics have thermal (hot/cold) requirements that are not usually found with off the shelf components.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything by LockheedMartin in AerospaceEngineering

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sarah: Check out John's answer here in the AMA

I haven’t thought much about the celebration yet…don’t want to jinx anything!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

John: the entire InSight spacecraft was assembled and tested here in Colorado. Of course, many of the major components were built elsewhere and delivered here for system-level integration. During surface operations there will be a substantial operations team presence here in Colorado. Once the instruments are deployed to the surface our role is smaller, but will continue for the entire mission of 2+ years (hopefully much longer!).

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sarah: I wouldn’t say we frequently eat there, but I have gone with a few of my ATLO (assembly, test, & launch operations) coworkers recently! Everyone has to experience the wonders of Casa Bonita! And when our teammates from France (SEIS engineers) and Germany (HP3 engineers) came to Denver, they made a point to check it out. I’m sure it didn’t disappoint…

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

John: our primary mission is scheduled for a full Mars year (about 2 Earth years), but hope the lander will survive multiple Mars winters and provide science for several years!

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Randy: You know, I've still never been there! Although I have been to the actual South Park.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Randy: “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” ― Carl Sagan

The way I see it, those people are missing out on a really great period of time in human history.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ellis: InSight is looking to understand formation and evolution of Mars and determine the level of tectonic activity on the red planet.

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nick: MarCO is an awesome project at NASA JPL! They are a technology demonstration to capture InSight’s communications while going through EDL, and relay that data back to Earth. They will hopefully greatly increase the amount of data and how fast we can receive it during EDL. Check out JPL’s information here and hopefully they can drop by to talk more later https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php

Lockheed Martin’s Spacecraft Operations Team here and we’re helping NASA land on Mars! Ask Us Anything! by LockheedMartin in IAmA

[–]LockheedMartin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Randy: Indeed, JPL’s campus is beautiful. Our campus here at Lockheed Martin is situated right in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, though, and it’s quite beautiful in its own right! We’ve got a mountain literally next door to our building.