Two CubeSats, briefcase-sized mini satellites, were launched into space alongside the Mars InSight mission on May 5 of this year. Nicknamed “Wall-E” and “Eva” by their team, the two Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft will become the first CubeSats to travel through deep space.  If they survive the journey to Mars, they will observe and relay data about InSight’s landing as well as providing the first major test of CubeSat technology beyond Earth orbit.  Small, light (and therefore inexpensive) CubeSats could potentially play a large role in future space missions, and data obtained from MarCO will be crucial in developing CubeSats for deep space exploration. READ MORE »