NASA has announced that InSight’s next mission was cancelled because of a problem with SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure), a seismometer provided by CNES (Centre national d’etudes spatiales), France’s National Centre for Space Studies. To listen out for faint murmurs in the crust of Mars, the super-small seismometer had to be placed on its surface. The device is small enough to measure the ground motion of one atom. It must operate in a quasi vacuum to ensure it is able to withstand harsh Mars environment conditions. One-thousandths of a millibar is the minimum air pressure that can be maintained at Mars. This corresponds to approximately one millionth Earth’s atmosphere pressure at sea-level. Artist’s impression showing the InSight Mars Lander fully deployed to study the deep inside of Mars. This mission was scheduled to launch in March 30, 2016,, and then land on Mars September 28, 2016,. However, the leakage of the SEIS scientific instrument has forced the cancellation. (Image: nasa.gov. NASA/JPL–Caltech. The leak could not be repaired in time. NASA’s decision to cancel the mission was based on failed attempts to fix a leak in a “section of the prime instrument” in its science payload. NASA only has a small launch window to send Earth-to Mars missions every few years. Between 4th Marth th Marth 2016, the timeframe for next planned mission was set. This is because the relative positions between Earth and Mars will make it most favorable to launch a next-year mission. The instrument would not have read accurately if it was operating in a perfect vacuum. John Grunsfeld is the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. He stated that “Learning more about Mars’ interior structure has been a top priority for planetary scientists ever since the Viking age.” John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, stated: “Learning about the interior structure of Mars has been a high priority objective for planetary scientists since the Viking era.” CNES researchers are working on SEIS, the seismometer SEIS, in 2014.. Image: https://cnes.fr. InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena (California) stated that InSight’s study of Mars’ interior is intended to improve understanding of how other rocky planets formed and evolved. Images from insight.snes.fr. Mars still has evidence of the early stages of rocky planet development. Members of the mission team were optimistic that recent repairs to SEIS would also be successful after a leak was repaired earlier this year. SEIS failed to maintain a vacuum despite being tested at super-low temperatures (-45degC and -49degF. NASA officials and scientists decided that there wasn’t enough time to fix another leakage, finish the work and test everything to make sure the mission was a success. They didn’t think they would be able to meet March’s deadline so they cancelled the mission. Marc Pircher (Director of CNES’s Toulouse Space Centre) stated that an anomaly requires more investigation. “It is the first time in history that such a sensitive instrument was built. Although we were close to success, an anomaly occurred that requires more investigation. Although our teams will be able to find the solution, it may not be resolved in time to launch the rocket in 2016.” Maryland. Lockheed Martin, an American multinational aerospace, defense and security company, was based in Maryland. The spacecraft was delivered to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on December 16th. The 2016 launch was cancelled. Now the spacecraft will be returned to Lockheed’s Denver facility. Director, Planetary Science Division in Washington Jim Green stated: “In 2008,, we made the difficult but right decision to delay the Mars Science Laboratory mission launch for two years to ensure its success. NASA’s plans to send people to Mars are still being pursued. NASA says this cancellation does not affect its current plans. NASA’s Mars Exploration Program began with a robotic spacecraft as its leader. In 2020, a second rover will travel to Mars to assist the Opportunity and Curiosity spacecrafts that are exploring its surface. NASA reports that NASA and CNES are also participating in ESA’s Mars Express mission. They plan to provide telecommunication radios to ESA’s 2016 orbiter, and an element of an important astrobiology instrument to the 2018 Mars rover. InSight’s science payload contains the Heat Flow & Physical Properties Package (HP3) provided by DLR and SEIS provided by CNES. SEIS was developed with participation from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNES, the Swiss Space Office and the max Plank Institute for Solar Systems Research. NASA Animation – Insight Mars Mission Animation – NASA Video This NASA animation was created two years ago and shows Insight’s (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy, Heat Transport) Lander setting up its scientific instruments.
