One of the Most Exciting Parts of InSight is Actually the Tiny Cubesats Tagging Along for the Ride and Their Role in the Mission

"WALL-E and EVE performed just as we expected them to. They were an excellent test of how CubeSats can serve as 'tag-alongs' on future missions, giving engineers up-to-the-minute feedback during a landing."

"CubeSats have incredible potential to carry cameras and science instruments out to deep space. They'll never replace the more capable spacecraft NASA is best known for developing. But they're low-cost ride-alongs that can allow us to explore in new ways."

"MarCO is mostly made up of early-career engineers and, for many, MarCO is their first experience out of college on a NASA mission. We are proud of their accomplishment. It's given them valuable experience on every facet of building, testing and operating a spacecraft in deep space."