NASA Suspends Next Mars Mission

The instrument involved is the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), a seismometer provided by the French Space Agency (CNES) that will help answer questions about the interior structure and processes within the deep Martian interior.

Missions to the Red Planet typically don’t lift off except within a small window wherein the orbits of Earth and Mars align closely enough so that the trip is “economically feasible”, the Verge reported.

Earlier this year, NASA team have fixed a leak in the seismometer.

However, the instrument once again failed to hold a vacuum during testing on Monday in extreme cold temperatures.

But while the InSight mission to Mars may not be delayed to 2018, it should be noted that it isn’t the first Mars mission to be delayed. But the USA space agency NASA has suspended the launch of the mission because of a faulty seismometer.

“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”, NASA’s John Grunsfeld said, according to AFP.

The spacecraft, called InSight, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California five days ago to be prepared for launch on March 18. With the suspension of the mission, the spacecraft will be returned to Lockheed’s facility in Denver.

InSight’s science payload includes two key instruments: SEIS, provided by CNES, and the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Director of the Planetary Science Division in Washington Jim Green noted in the press release in 2008 NASA made the decision to push back the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission for more prep time.

The InSight mission was to investigate whether the core of Mars is solid or liquid like Earth’s and why Mars’ crust is not divided into tectonic plates that drift like on the Earth.

NASA is now working on three Mars missions with the European Space Agency and plans to send another rover to Mars in 2020.

While the InSight launch is important, Grunsfeld said the suspension “doesn t affect the sequence of any other missions”.

A USA technology satellite planned to start in March to Mars continues to be seated as a result of trickle in a vital study device, NASA stated on Thursday, making doubt concerning the widely-anticipated work review the inside of the planet’s potential. The probe was slated to head to Mars in March 2016 to study the planet’s interior and reveal how terrestrial worlds (including Earth) form.