NASA is ready to launch another mission to Mars in 2016, but to where on the red planet is unknown, at least for now.
According to a press release from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the space agency has narrowed down its choices for a landing spot for the 2016 Mars mission to four.
The Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) will land on Mars in March 2016 and stay in place once in does. Its main objective will be to drill into the planet to study what lies beneath.
All four sites are near one another on a plain near Mars' equator called Elysium Planitia.
"We picked four sites that look safest," said Matt Golombek, a JPL geologist with NASA in Pasadena, Calif., who is also in charge of selecting a landing site. "They have mostly smooth terrain, few rocks and very little slope."
The scientists will use two of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiters to over the next few months to finish studying the final four landing spots. The InSight lander will investigate what goes into the formation and evolution of a planet. Unlike other missions, this one will not take into account anything on the surface except safety precautions.
"This mission's science goals are not related to any specific location on Mars because we're studying the planet as a whole, down to its core," said Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at JPL. "Mission safety and survival are what drive our criteria for a landing site."
Being near the equator was key for selecting a the semi-finalists because the atmosphere above will be safe for landing and the solar array will have sufficient power throughout the entire mission. The ground in which the lander will drill also plays a role. "For this mission, we needed to look below the surface to evaluate candidate landing sites," Golombek said.
InSight will need to plunge itself about three to five yards into the ground upon landing and will need permeable ground to do so. Large rocks and bedrocks will pose a problem for such a function.
