US space agency NASA said on Wednesday that its Mars lander
is now targeting a new launch window that begins May 5, 2018, with a Mars
landing scheduled for November 26, 2018.
NASA originally planned to launch the Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission this month, but it was forced to call it off in December due to a vacuum leak in the prime science instrument of the lander.
The instrument involved was the Seismic Experiment for
Interior Structure (SEIS), a seismometer provided by the French Space Agency
(CNES) that will help answer questions about the interior structure and
processes within the deep Martian interior.
Designed to measure ground movements as small as the diametre of an atom, the instrument requires a vacuum seal around its three main sensors to withstand the harsh conditions of the Martian environment.
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