After disappointing delay, NASA's next Mars lander set to launch in 2018
Following a disappointing delay in December, NASA has revived plans to launch the InSight Mars lander to the Red Planet.
The space agency's聽InSight mission (short for聽Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), is still alive, with a targeted launch date of May 5, 2018, according to a release from the聽National Aeronautics and Space Administration.聽The window to send craft to Mars opens roughly every two years.
InSight's objectives are to help inform our understanding of the formation and聽evolution of the terrestrial planets that make up the inner Solar System, according to the space agency. InSight鈥檚 lander is equipped with scientific instruments including the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) that will measure internal activity below Mars鈥� surface as well as explore the planet鈥檚 mantle and crust.
Additionally, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) will probe up to 5 meters into Mars, beneath the surface to measure the planet core heat, and hopefully learn a bit about Martian thermal history. And the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) will use X band microwaves to study planetary rotation.
鈥�, and the NASA and [National Centre for Space Studies聽(CNES)] plans to overcome the technical challenges are sound,鈥� said NASA Science Mission Directorate associate director John Grunsfeld. 鈥淭he quest to understand the interior of Mars has been a longstanding goal of planetary scientists for decades. We鈥檙e excited to be back on the path for a launch, now in 2018.鈥�
InSight was delayed last year due to a problem with the SEIS vacuum enclosure that would have hindered the seismometer from taking accurate measurements. A redesign of the enclosure by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and tested by CNES will be completed in 2017. NASA has not gauged the cost of the two-year delay and rebuilding process, but it says a price estimate will be figured by August.
鈥淭he shared and renewed commitment to this mission continues our collaboration to find clues in the heart of Mars about the early evolution of our solar system,鈥� said CNES鈥� Marc Pircher, the French space agency鈥檚 Toulouse Space Centre director.
InSight will be followed by NASA鈥檚 , which is set to investigate the Martian environment and potential for habitability. Both projects are stepping stones for the agency鈥檚 eventual goal of sending humans to the planet in the 2030s.
While InSight was not able to make use of this year鈥檚 opening for a Mars launch, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia鈥檚 Roscosmos will launch their joint on Monday from Kazakhstan. ExoMars should reach its destination in October, where its lander will begin searching the Martian atmosphere for gases.
