America will put more robots on Mars

Two weeks after the Curiosity self-propelled probe landed on Mars, the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) announced that another of its robots would fly to the red planet in 2016.

InSight, the name of the robot will fly to Mars, carrying devices capable of studying the material beneath the surface of the red planet. Its data will help scientists better understand the formation of rocky planets, including the Earth, the BBC reported.

Illustrations of the design of InSight self-propelled robot in the future.

InSight's flight is one of three low-cost space exploration proposals that NASA considers. The other two proposals were rejected. The maximum cost for the InSight manufacturing project is only $ 425 million, far below the $ 2.5 billion cost for the Curiosity project. The money to buy boosters is not included in the cost for InSight.

InSight's design and texture will resemble Phoenix, the self-propelled robot once flew to Mars in 2008. However, InSight will bring completely different devices with Phoenix. For example, an InSight device has the ability to "listen" to earthquakes on the red planet and use seismic data to determine the boundary between layers of rock beneath the surface of the planet. The data will help scientists know the core of Mars is made up of solids or liquids and why Mars' shells do not crack into tectonic plates like the earth.

InSight will also carry a thermal device capable of measuring the temperature on the Martian crust. Data from the device will help scientists determine the cooling rate of the red planet.