NASA Delays Mars Lander Launch: How This Impacts Missions to the Red Planet

NASA has delayed the launch of its new InSight mission to Mars. But what does that mean for the mission, and why did it occur? The decision follows unsuccessful attempts to repair a leak in a section of the prime instrument in the science payload.

The mission itself is called the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission. It was meant to find out a bit more about the interior of Mars.

"Learning about the interior structure of Mars has been a high priority objective for planetary scientists since the Viking era," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a news release. "We push the boundaries of space technology with our missions to enable science, but space exploration is unforgiving, and the bottom line is that we're not ready to launch in the 2016 window. A decision on a path forward will be made in the coming months, but one thing is clear: NASA remains fully committed to the scientific discovery and exploration of Mars."

The instrument involved with InSight is the Seismic Experiment for Interior structure. This instrument is designed to measure ground movements as small as the diameter of an atom, and requires a vacuum seal around its three main sensors to withstand the harsh conditions of a Martian environment. A leak earlier this year, though, has caused delays since the mission team was unable to repair it.

"It's the first time ever that such a sensitive instrument has been built," said Marc Pircher, Director of CNES's Toulous Space Center. "We were very close to succeeding, but an anomaly has occurred, which requires further investigation. Our teams will find a solution to fix it, but it won't be solved int ime for a launch in 2016."

This won't cause too much of a delay for the mission to Mars, though. It's just a small hiccup as scientists work to find a solution before continuing with their push to exploer the Red Planet.

For more information about the Mars program, visit NASA's website.

Related Articles

Giant Comets Threaten Life on Earth, Astronomers Reveal New Findings

Cosmic, Clumpy Doughnut May Reveal More About Supermassive Black Holes

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).