Hi Alex,

I wish them the very best of luck. The whole problem with creating stability simultaneously with sensitivity on the Martian plains, seems like an engineering nightmare ;-) Generally, I personally would dislike spending a lot of time and effort on equipment or data gathering devices which other scientists will always second-guess, discount or in any other way try to delegitimize. (As scientists are habitually inclined to do ;-)

The Viking Lander is a case in point - as the life experiment and others have ended as permanently being labeled "inconclusive".

However, I definitely agree our understanding of the interior of Mars is very sketchy and the volcanic activity, plate tectonics and present seismographic activity could go a long way in learning about the recent history of Mars.

Here's keeping my fingers crossed,

SDAI-Tech1