Deeper knowledge about the formation of Mars could help us better understand how other rocky planets, including Earth, were and are created. Therefore, NASA's next mission to Mars, Insight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), will be the first mission to place the focus below the Martian surface, in the heart of the red planet, measuring its production of heat and listening to the marsquakes, which are seismic events similar to earthquakes on Earth.
According to NASA, the mission is scheduled to be launched on Saturday, May 5, and will be the first to study the heart of Mars. The takeoff, first of a planetary mission from the west coast of the United States, is scheduled for launch at 12.05 GMT from EL Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Base in California aboard an Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance . Includes a Spanish environmental station.
InSight will use the seismic waves generated by the marsquakes to develop a map of the deep interior of the planet. Among the scientific instruments on board is TWINS, an environmental station whose construction, design and operation is directed from the Center of Astrobiology of INTA (Spain), and which will monitor the environmental conditions in the landing zone continuously during the two years that the mission will last.
On board the same rocket will travel a separate NASA technology experiment known as Mars Cube One (MarCO), which consists of two mini spacecraft and will be the first test of CubeSat technology in deep space. They are designed to test new communication and navigation capabilities for future missions and can help insight communications.
The exploration was scheduled for March 2016 but NASA suspended the launch due to technical problems in the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), a seismometer that was the main tool of InSight.