The InSight probe – which stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport – is equipped with a seismometer and a burrowing heat probe to allow it to study the early geological evolution of Mars. 

It is also capable of performing radio science experiments to study the internal structure of Mars.

The lander first started hammering into the Martian soil on 28 February, using an instrument dubbed the ‘Mole’, in order to measure the Red Planet’s internal temperature.

Scientists had hoped there would be a limited number of rocks below ground to impede the Heat and Physical Properties Package operation, as there are few rocks on the surface near the lander.

However, Nasa said the Heat and Physical Properties Package – or HP3 – had got about three-quarters of the way out of its housing structure before stopping and had made no progress after a second attempt to dig on 2 March. Data also suggests that the ‘Mole’ is at a 15-degree tilt.

“The team has therefore decided to pause the hammering for about two weeks to allow the situation to be analysed more closely and jointly come up with strategies for overcoming the obstacle,” wrote Tilman Spohn, principal investigator of the HP3 experiment, on his InSight mission blog.

The researchers suspect that the Mole has hit a rock or some gravel. The device is designed to be able to push any small rocks obstructing its path or find a way around them, so for now the team have decided to pause attempts at digging to analyse the situation.

“In the meantime, we are planning on carrying out thermal conductivity measurements for the first time on Mars and start to conduct observations of the shadow of Phobos, which will be travelling through the radiometer’s field of view on 5, 6 and 8 March 2019,” Spohn said.

“A lot to do and still a lot of excellent science to be expected from HP3 and from InSight! Planetary exploration is not as easy as pie!”

The team is aiming to go up to 5 metres beneath the surface, which would set an otherworldly record.

The lander first touched down in November 2018 in a touch-and-go landing that gave it just seven minutes in which to decelerate from around 13,000mph to just 5mph in a landing based entirely on pre-programmed data and autonomous navigation systems.

The spacecraft survived temperatures as hot as 1,500°C – hot enough to melt steel – as it entered the atmosphere.

The InSight probe – which stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport – is equipped with a seismometer and a burrowing heat probe to allow it to study the early geological evolution of Mars. 

It is also capable of performing radio science experiments to study the internal structure of Mars.

The lander first started hammering into the Martian soil on 28 February, using an instrument dubbed the ‘Mole’, in order to measure the Red Planet’s internal temperature.

Scientists had hoped there would be a limited number of rocks below ground to impede the Heat and Physical Properties Package operation, as there are few rocks on the surface near the lander.

However, Nasa said the Heat and Physical Properties Package – or HP3 – had got about three-quarters of the way out of its housing structure before stopping and had made no progress after a second attempt to dig on 2 March. Data also suggests that the ‘Mole’ is at a 15-degree tilt.

“The team has therefore decided to pause the hammering for about two weeks to allow the situation to be analysed more closely and jointly come up with strategies for overcoming the obstacle,” wrote Tilman Spohn, principal investigator of the HP3 experiment, on his InSight mission blog.

The researchers suspect that the Mole has hit a rock or some gravel. The device is designed to be able to push any small rocks obstructing its path or find a way around them, so for now the team have decided to pause attempts at digging to analyse the situation.

“In the meantime, we are planning on carrying out thermal conductivity measurements for the first time on Mars and start to conduct observations of the shadow of Phobos, which will be travelling through the radiometer’s field of view on 5, 6 and 8 March 2019,” Spohn said.

“A lot to do and still a lot of excellent science to be expected from HP3 and from InSight! Planetary exploration is not as easy as pie!”

The team is aiming to go up to 5 metres beneath the surface, which would set an otherworldly record.

The lander first touched down in November 2018 in a touch-and-go landing that gave it just seven minutes in which to decelerate from around 13,000mph to just 5mph in a landing based entirely on pre-programmed data and autonomous navigation systems.

The spacecraft survived temperatures as hot as 1,500°C – hot enough to melt steel – as it entered the atmosphere.