[meteorite-list] NASA Suspends 2016 Launch of InSight Mission to Mars

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 16:14:39 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201512230014.tBN0Eds4013179_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4805

NASA Suspends 2016 Launch of InSight Mission to Mars
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 22, 2015

After thorough examination, NASA managers have decided to suspend the
planned March 2016 launch of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations
Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission. The decision follows unsuccessful
attempts to repair a leak in a section of the prime instrument in the
science payload.

"Learning about the interior structure of Mars has been a high priority
objective for planetary scientists since the Viking era," said John Grunsfeld,
associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
"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."

The instrument involved is the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure
(SEIS), a seismometer provided by France's Centre National d'?tudes Spatiales
(CNES. Designed to measure ground movements as small as the diameter of
an atom, the instrument requires a vacuum seal around its three main sensors
to withstand the harsh conditions of the Martian environment.

"InSight's investigation of the Red Planet's interior is designed to increase
understanding of how all rocky planets, including Earth, formed and evolved,"
said Bruce Banerdt, InSight Principal Investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Mars retains evidence about the rocky
planets' early development that has been erased on Earth by internal churning
Mars lacks. Gaining information about the core, mantle and crust of Mars
is a high priority for planetary science, and InSight was built to accomplish
this."

A leak earlier this year that previously had prevented the seismometer
from retaining vacuum conditions was repaired, and the mission team was
hopeful the most recent fix also would be successful. However, during
testing on Monday in extreme cold temperature (-49 degrees Fahrenheit/-45
degrees Celsius) the instrument again failed to hold a vacuum.

NASA officials determined there is insufficient time to resolve another
leak, and complete the work and thorough testing required to ensure a
successful mission.

"It's the first time ever that such a sensitive instrument has been built.
We were very close to succeeding, but an anomaly has occurred, which requires
further investigation. Our teams will find a solution to fix it, but it
won't be solved in time for a launch in 2016," said Marc Pircher, Director
of CNES's Toulouse Space Centre.

The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, was delivered to Vandenberg
Air Force Base in California, on Dec. 16. With the 2016 launch canceled,
the spacecraft will be returned from Vandenberg to Lockheed's facility
in Denver.

The relative positions of the planets are most favorable for launching
missions from Earth to Mars for only a few weeks every 26 months. For
InSight, that 2016 launch window existed from March 4 to March 30.

"In 2008, we made a difficult, but correct decision to postpone the launch
of the Mars Science Laboratory mission for two years to better ensure
mission success," said Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division,
in Washington. "The successes of that mission's rover, Curiosity, have
vastly outweighed any disappointment about that delay."

NASA is on an ambitious journey to Mars that includes sending humans to
the Red Planet, and that work remains on track despite Tuesday's decision.
Robotic spacecraft are leading the way for NASA's Mars Exploration Program,
with the upcoming Mars 2020 rover being designed and built, the Opportunity
and Curiosity rovers exploring the Martian surface, the Odyssey and Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft currently orbiting the planet, along
with the MAVEN orbiter, which recently helped scientists understand what
happened to the Martian atmosphere.

NASA and CNES also are participating in the European Space Agency's (ESA's)
Mars Express mission currently operating at Mars and plans to participate
on ESA's 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing telecommunication
radios for ESA's 2016 orbiter and a critical element of a key astrobiology
instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover.

"The JPL and CNES teams, and their partners, have made a heroic effort
to prepare the InSight instrument, but have run out of time given the
celestial mechanics of a launch to Mars," said JPL Director Charles Elachi.
"It is more important to do it right than take an unacceptable risk."

InSight's science payload includes two key instruments: SEIS, provided
by CNES, and the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), provided
by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

SEIS was built with the participation of the Institut de Physique du Globe
de Paris (IPGP) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), with
support from the Swiss Space Office and the European Space Agency PRODEX
program; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), supported
by DLR; Imperial College, supported by the United Kingdom Space Agency;
and JPL.

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. EST today to provide
details on the agency's decision. Briefing participants are:

-- John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate
at NASA Headquarters in Washington

-- Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters

-- Marc Pircher, CNES director

-- Philippe Laudet, CNES project manager for SEIS

-- Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, JPL

To participate in the teleconference by phone, media must email their
name, media affiliation and phone number to Karen Northon at karen.northon at nasa.gov
by 3:30 p.m.

NASA will audio stream the teleconference live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

For more information about NASA's Mars programs visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/journey-to-mars-overview


Media Contact

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters,Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo at nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.w.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

Julien Watelet
Media Manager du CNES
Tel. 01 44 76 78 37 / port. 06 88 06 11 48
julien.watelet at cnes.fr

2015-385
Received on Tue 22 Dec 2015 07:14:39 PM PST