Tiny satellites will relay news of InSight’s Mars landing in minutes, not hours

Two CubeSats will send data back to Earth of the lander’s fate as they pass the Red Planet

illustration of two CubeSats

BOLDLY GOING  Two briefcase-sized satellites, shown side by side in this artist’s rendering, will become the first tiny spacecraft to fly by Mars and act as communications relays for a lander.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

The next spacecraft set to land on Mars is bringing its own communications team.