The InSight Mars Mission has officially been suspended. NASA was planning on sending a rover to the planet Mars. However, because of complications, this mission is now not happening anytime soon. This is extremely unfortunate news for everyone at NASA.
NASA SHUTS DOWN THE INSIGHT MARS MISSION
The InSight Mars Mission was set to send a rover over there in March of 2016. However, the team at NASA discovered a leak in one of the rover’s instruments. The plan was for this rover to analyze seismic activity on Mars. This leak was actually fixed in the past. However, the problem is the leak came back again. The company officially decided that there was not enough time to fix it again, and they suspended the operation.
JOHN GRUNSFELD TALKS ABOUT THE INSIGHT MARS MISSION
John Grunsfeld is the associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. He talked about the InSight Mars Mission. Grunsfeld mentions how space exploration is very unforgiving. He says that NASA pushes the boundaries as far as they can go, but sometimes it just does not work. He states how a decision to forward this project will be decided in the next couple of months. However, Grunsfeld points out that no matter what happens, NASA is fully committed to Mars.
CHINA’S SPACE PROGRAM STANDS OUT
One aspect that should be kept in mind is how well China has done with its space program. China is aiming at having a manned space station up and running no later than 2020. Not only that but China has already landed a rover on the Moon. Perhaps China could help out with the InSight Mars Mission. They are clearly very adept with space exploration, so why not?
THE NASA CURIOSITY ROVER IS STILL ALONE
As many people know, the NASA Curiosity Rover is currently on Mars. Curiosity has already sent back several photos of the mysterious red planet. However, now it will remain there alone. The Curiosity Rover is just going to have to wait patiently for the InSight to eventually arrive. There is no doubt that NASA is not going to give up on this project. They have already stated how much effort they have put into the InSight Mars Mission. However, the new timetable is unknown at this time. Hopefully, they will fix the leak and eventually get the InSight to Mars.
