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Nature: Planned for 4 March 2016, the launch of NASA’s InSight robotic Mars lander may have to be delayed if a problem with one of its two main instruments cannot be fixed in time. The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, built by the French space agency CNES, is designed to study Mars’s interior by measuring the planet’s quakes and other seismic activity. However, a leak has been discovered in the instrument’s vacuum container. If the problem cannot be fixed soon, the launch will need to be put off, possibly for many months, until Earth and Mars are once again properly aligned.
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Instrument problem could delay March launch of NASA Mars mission Free
4 December 2015