NASA Awards Boeing and Lockheed $160 Million for New Mars Mission

InSight space probe will focus on figuring out how Mars' geology evolved.

By Rich Smith – Dec 19, 2013 at 7:37PM EST

The Mars InSight planetary probe. Source: NASA

NASA awarded the Boeing (BA +0.58%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT +1.78%) joint venture "United Launch Services LLC" (ULS) a $160 million contract for a mission to Mars Thursday.

As explained by NASA in a press release, the "Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport" (InSight) mission will launch aboard a ULS Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch is scheduled for March 2016, with an expected arrival date on Mars in September 2016.

Once arrived, InSight will begin a two-year science mission investigating "the interior structure and processes of Mars to understand better the evolution of rocky planets such as Earth."

Rich Smith is a contributing Motley Fool defense and stock market analyst covering publicly traded and emerging companies in defense, space, aerospace, and other sectors. Prior to The Motley Fool, Rich practiced international corporate law for Clifford Chance in Russia, and for the Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group in Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington, D.C. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the College of William & Mary, a law degree from the University of Baltimore, and a language certification from the International Institute of Russian Language & Culture in Tver, Russian Federation. The Globe and Mail once featured him as “one of the best stock pickers since 2009.”

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NASA Awards Boeing and Lockheed $160 Million for New Mars Mission

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NASA Awards Boeing and Lockheed $160 Million for New Mars Mission