After four years of deliberation, NASA has picked its next Mars landing spot: Jezero crater. The hope is that it has the right environment to preserve signs of ancient life.
Satellite images suggest the 50-kilometre-wide crater once had a river flowing along its rim and into a big lake. It is thought to hold rocks that can preserve organic molecules, such as clays and carbonates. It is located 18 degrees north of Mars's equator.
If there are no delays, the rover will launch July 2020 and arrive February 2021.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:15AM (1 child)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSight [wikipedia.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:05PM
I understand the need to save weight. But if that probe lands just at the wrong place and the drilling isn't satisfactory, maybe having wheels to move it 10m to the left would have been a decent idea.