NASA postpones new robotic mission to Mars for at least two years

NASA announced Tuesday that it is delaying the InSight Mars mission due to a leak in a seismological measuring instrument. The problem cannot be solved before the planned mission launch in March 2016.

The InSight mission is intended to investigate the internal structure of Mars. The problem with the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure or SEIS is a leak in the vacuum housing. Provided by the French space center Center National d’Études Spatiales, the instrument can measure ground motion the size of an atom’s diameter. The instrument is protected from the harsh conditions on Mars by a vacuum housing. The leak had been discovered before and appeared to have been repaired. Unfortunately, tests last week at temperatures as low as -45 degrees Celsius showed that the vacuum again did not last.

The fact that NASA has had to postpone the mission by more than two years because of this leak is because the Earth and Mars will only get so close again between May and June 2018 that the moment is suitable for launch. This proximity point recurs every 26 months. The journey to Mars takes about six months.

InSight arm test, protective sheath test version for SEIS. Source: NASA