Testing of NASA's next Mars is under progress. The lander called InSight, an abbreviation for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport is scheduled to launch in March 2016. The spacecraft will lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will land on the Red planet about six months later.

The lander, which is about the size of a car will examine the planet's deep interior and give insights about how all rocky planets, including Earth. It will be the first mission, which will reveals about the Red Planet's core.

Insight will gain technical capabilities and knowledge, which will be important to NASA's journey to Mars and other Mars missions, which includes sending astronauts to the Red Planet in the 2030s.

Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's headquarters in Washington said, "Today, our robotic scientific explorers are paving the way, making great progress on the journey to Mars. Together, humans and robotics will pioneer Mars and the solar system".

InSight's current testing would help to ensure that it has the potential to operate and survive deep space travel and the harsh conditions of the Martian surface.

The lander, which is build by Lockheed Martin's Space Systems company will be tested in company's facility near Denver. It will be exposed to extreme temperatures, vacuum conditions of nearly zero air pressure simulating interplanetary space, and a battery of other tests over the next seven months.

Thermal vacuum will be the first test in the spacecraft's 'cruise' configuration, which will be used during its seven-month journey to Mars.

Other tests will include vibrations simulating launch and checking for electronic interference between different parts of the spacecraft.

The InSight mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It is led by Bruce Banerdt, from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.