A NASA mission that sent two tiny spacecraft farther out than any like them before appears to have come to an end: Cubesats MarCO-A and B (nicknamed WALL-E and EVE) are no longer communicating from their positions a million and two million miles from Earth respectively.
The briefcase-sized craft rode shotgun on the Insight Mars Lander launch in May, detaching shortly after leaving orbit. Before long they had gone farther than any previous cubesat-sized craft, and after about a million kilometers EVE took a great shot of the Earth receding in its wake (if wake in space were a thing).
They were near Mars when Insight made its descent onto the Red Planet, providing backup observation and connectivity, and having done that, their mission was pretty much over. In fact, the team felt that if they made it that far it would already be a major success.
“This mission was always about pushing the …read more
Source:: TechCrunch Gadgets
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