---
title: "NASA Isn’t Sure What’s Wrong With Its InSight Mars Lander"
description: "NASA collaborators admitted that they're not sure what's wrong with the InSight lander's instrument that was supposed to dig into the surface of Mars."
date: "2019-03-20"
modified: "2019-03-20"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-insight-trouble-digging-mars"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "insight"
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Isn’t Sure What’s Wrong With Its InSight Mars Lander

![NASA collaborators admitted that they're not sure what's wrong with the InSight lander's instrument that was supposed to dig into the surface of Mars.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/nasa-insight-trouble-digging-mars.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## "Encountered Something"

NASA collaborators recently admitted that they're not sure what's wrong with the InSight lander's instrument that was supposed to dig into the surface of Mars and measure the heat flow of the planet's interior.

"At about 30 centimeters depth we encountered something," said Germany space agency researcher Tilman Spohn at a recent conference, [according to *Space News*](<https://spacenews.com/engineers-still-studying-problem-with-insight-heat-flow-probe/>). “We don’t know yet if it’s a harder layer of regolith or a rock.”

## Raining Death

InSight [started digging](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasas-insight-mars-lander-digging-snag>) in late Febraury, and the team [admitted it had run trouble](<https://futurism.com/nasa-insight-lander-mole-rock>) in early March. Now, researchers are reportedly gathering data and deciding whether to keep drilling or consider pulling out to try again.

"We can probably start trying to penetrate again in a few weeks," Spohn said, according to *Space News*. "Before that, we want to make sure we’re doing the right things."

**READ MORE:** [Engineers still studying problem with InSight heat flow probe](<https://spacenews.com/engineers-still-studying-problem-with-insight-heat-flow-probe/>) \[*Space News*\]

**More on InSight:** [NASA’s InSight Mars Rover Runs Into Trouble Digging a Hole](<https://futurism.com/nasa-insight-lander-mole-rock>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)