Next US Mars probe to launch in 2016
AUG 21, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026273
Space.com : The US’s next low-budget planetary missionâmdash;called InSight, short for interior exploration using seismic investigations, geodesy, and heat transportâmdash;is scheduled to launch in 2016. The 12th in NASA’s Discovery-class missions, the probe will study the interior and structure of Mars in order to shed light on the evolutionary processes of all the rocky planets in the solar system. At the relatively modest cost of $425 million, the project follows in the wake of NASA’s pulling out of the European-led ExoMars mission because of federal budget cuts.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
