NASA Plans For Data Relay Demonstration During Next Mars Mission

The rocket carrying NASA's next Mars mission will also launch two potentially ground-breaking devices to the red planet.
The InSight Lander will begin it's voyage to Mars in March 2016 with two small satellites known as, cube-sats.
Called MarCO, the two spacecraft are a technological demonstration designed to help with communications at the critical moment when InSight touches down on Mars.
While many cubesats have flown missions above Earth, this will mark the first time this tiny class of spacecraft have made the journey to another planet.
The cubesats come equipped with two solar panels and a pair of radio antennas that can be used to beam information between InSight's Mars lander and Earth faster than traditional methods.