Exploring solar system

JAXA Hyabusa2 is another asteroid sample-return mission on similar schedule as the Bennu-blaster.

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Looking back I feel completely charmed (overwhelmed a better word?) by Apollo 8. During a brief period when Saturn Vs were lit about every two months.

Turning kerosene in OMFG...

 

A new Mars lander will arrive (not too roughly we hope) Monday Nov 26. Called InSight, this one has no wheels. It does have a heckuva drill and intends to put a heat-flux probe down the hole. Don't know if it will attend to what comes out of the hole, which might be informative. In addition it will put a seismometer on the surface. Perhaps to pick up 100 or more jiggles/year from incoming rocks and such. All directed towards making better models of 'deep Mars'.

Also a few other gadgets, but the main two nearly allow wags to call the effort "shake and bake".

Transit time from Earth was <7 months and that's about what can be done with current firesticks, and when these two planets are 'on the same side' of old Sol.

 

There are also two cubesats that will relay signals from InSight to earth during its early moments. They are just passing by Mars. Later, they will do ??? To infinity and beyond I guess.