Space News: Next Mars Discovery Mission with InSight Lander Delayed by NASA

NASA was forced to delay its next mission to Mars due to an ongoing problem with one of the key components of the InSight lander.

Although 2018 has been targeted as the new launch period, there's still a chance that the space agency might cancel the mission, which is still part of its Discovery Program.

Originally, NASA was aiming to launch the InSight mission in March of next year. However, based on the analyses by the agency's engineers, NASA still needs more time to perfect the functions of the lander.

InSight was designed to study the geological conditions of the red planet including its seismic activity. Although the lander's seismometer functions properly, the sphere that is supposed to create a vacuumed environment around it is leaking. This is a vital part of the lander because it will protect the seismometer from the environmental conditions of Mars.

Leaks of the sphere were already discovered earlier this year but the engineers were able to fix them. However, while inspecting the lander in Tuesday, the engineers discovered another leak.

Due to the persistent problem, NASA is having a hard time determining if it will be able to meet the 2016 launch. To give its engineers enough time, the agency decided to move the launch date by two years.

"Unfortunately, since last August we've been fighting a series of very small leaks," John Grunsfeld, head of the mission for NASA said in a press briefing according to the Washington Post. "As late as yesterday we thought we were still on track. The decision was made by the leak."

"This just reflects the difficulty when you challenge scientists and engineers to do things they've never done before," he added. "Sometimes things don't work out."

But aside from the leak, another factor that could hinder the lander from reaching the surface of Mars is the mission's budget. According to Ars Technica, NASA's low-cost Discovery Programs have a mission budget cap of $675 million.

However, for the InSight mission, NASA already spent $525 million. It is not yet clear if this includes projections for future fixes regarding the newly found leak.

According to Grundsfeld, officials from the space agency are still debating if and how this financial factor will affect the upcoming mission.

Hopefully, everything will go well and NASA will be able to proceed with its plans. Currently, the space agency is targeting to launch InSight sometime in May of 2018.