Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, also known as InSight was supposed to be launched between March 4 and March 10, 2016. This schedule was set prior to the detection of a glitch. InSight should be able to land on Mars six months after if the original timetable is followed.
The US satellite that is expected to launch to Mars in March has been suspended because of a leak found in a key research instrument, The Oceanside Post reported. The said delay has created uncertainty about the future of a highly anticipated effort to explore and study the interior of the red planet. The next planned mission to Mars is suspended by NASA due to a faulty seismometer, an instrument that measures the movement of the ground.
The seismometer problem is no longer new as a leak also occurred earlier in 2015, but it was fixed and declared fit for flight. Unfortunately, when it was checked on Monday in an extreme cold temperature, the seal failed once again. The Em-1 or Exploration Mission does not involve any space crew, Waltonian reported. It is the next space flight of Orion that is expected to be launched into a very far retrograde orbit around the moon in 2018.
While the InSight mission is very important, the suspension will not affect the sequence of any other missions or NASA's commitment to explore the planet as per Grunsfeld based on the same report. Missions that involve the Red Planet basically do not lift off except within a small window, wherein the orbits of both planet Earth and Mars align closely.