Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems has started assembling the InSight lander that will carry a pair of European science instruments to the surface of Mars for a two-year seismology mission scheduled to launch in 2016.

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Dan Leone is the NASA reporter for SpaceNews, where he also covers other civilian-run U.S. government space programs and a growing number of entrepreneurial space companies. He joined SpaceNews in 2011.Dan earned a bachelor's degree in public communications...