NASA has decided to call off the launch of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars mission originally set for March 2016 due to a leak in an instrument on the Science payload.
"Learning about the interior structure of Mars has been a high priority objective for planetary scientists since the Viking era. 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," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, according to Yahoo News.
If the cancellation for 2016 is finalized, the next opportunity for the InSight lander to head for Mars would be in 2018 because the best chances for launching missions to Mars are every 26 months. But even then, NASA is skeptical that it could push through since the time frame for the mission will depend on whether they will repair, redesign or scrap the mission. If they decide to redesign, it would at least take five years, hence, the May 2018 window would still be unlikely, according to New York Times.
Despite the cancellation of InSight's launch, it will not affect the schedules of other missions on Mars, according to NASA.
