NASA was preparing to launch the Mars robot InSight. It will be used to examine the rocky terrain of Mars. It is different from the other robots because unlike the others, it will not be able to move. InSight will be used to measure seismic activity and heat from Mars. The way that the engineers thought about how the robot was going to dig its way was the robot itself was going to hammer its small probe into Mars crust. The probe then would wait there and measure the activity and heat of Mars. The probe would go about 5 meters deep.
There are many different reasons why NASA wants to do this. They want to know more about Mars. If there was volcanoes in mars and if the remains of ice mean that there were rivers in Mars. With the evidence NASA will be able to see if just maybe there is aliens out in the universe.
The way this is related to our JPL machine is that InSight also has to have almost no wobble. If it does wobble then it adds time to our overall time. The InSight robot also has to land safely without tilting or it could ruin the whole mission. Another similarity is that engineers had to think of a way to shoot through Mars' crust without hesitation. Our project needs to use weight to launch the PVC pipe upright.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/five-things-to-know-about-insights-mars-landing
