Scientists detect first ‘marsquake’ with InSight lander

April 24, 2019

Scientists have likely detected a so-called marsquake — an earthquake on Mars — for the first time, NASA announced on Tuesday.

On April 6, NASA’s InSight lander picked up a gentle rumble on the red planet, measuring a faint signal.

The rumble sounded like soft wind, but scientists believe it came from seismic activity within the planet.

The Paris Institute of Earth Physics’ Philippe Lognonne, who leads the experiment, said it was long-awaited proof that Mars is seismically active.

“We’ve been waiting months for a signal like this,” Lognonne said in a statement.

Read more: NASA spacecraft heads to Mars to explore planet’s interior

Mars is much less geologically active than Earth and lacks the tectonic plates that cause most earthquakes.

InSight’s lead scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said the result was the continuation of work started by the Apollo moonwalkers nearly a half-century ago, who placed seismometers that measured thousands of moonquakes.

For Mars, “we’ve been collecting background noise up until now, but this first event officially kicks off a new field: Martian seismology!” Banerdt said in a statement.

The field of Martian seismology could shed light on how rocky planets formed.

The tremors were picked up by sensors in the Martian lander, in one of the more successful experiments being carried out. The lander is the first spacecraft designed specifically to study the deep interior of a distant world.

aw/se (AFP, AP, Reuters)

InSight Mars lander moments

NASA scientists jump for joy

InSight is a $1 billion international project. It includes a German mechanical mole that will burrow down 16 feet (5 meters) to measure Mars’ internal heat. The lander also has a French seismometer for measuring quakes, if they exist on our smaller, geologically calmer neighbor. Because of the distance between Earth and Mars, it took eight minutes for confirmation to arrive.

InSight Mars lander moments

The first picture

The three-legged InSight landed on the western side of Elysium Planitia, the plain that NASA was aiming for. Project manager Tom Hoffman said the spacecraft landed close to the bull’s-eye, but NASA did not have yet have the final calculations. The 800-pound (360-kilogram) InSight is stationary and will operate from the same spot for the next two years.

InSight Mars lander moments

InSight over Mars

InSight was trailed throughout its six-month 300-million-mile (482-million-kilometer) journey by a pair of tiny satellites. The two experimental satellites not only relayed the good news in almost real time, they sent back InSight’s first snapshot of Mars just 4½ minutes after landing. Up to now, the success rate at the red planet was only 40 percent.

InSight Mars lander moments

Entering the Martian atmosphere

InSight reached the surface of Mars after going from 12,300 mph (19,800 kph) to zero in six minutes flat, using a parachute and braking engines. “Landing on Mars is one of the hardest single jobs that people have to do in planetary exploration,” said InSight’s lead scientist, Bruce Banerdt. It was NASA’s ninth attempt to land at Mars since the 1976 Viking probes.

InSight Mars lander moments

In for the duration

InSight will remain in one place during the two-year mission. The stationary 800-pound (360-kilogram) lander will use its 6-foot (1.8-meter) robotic arm to place a mechanical mole and seismometer on the ground. The mole will measure the planet’s internal heat, while the seismometer listens for possible quakes. InSight has no life-detecting capability, however. That will be left to future rovers.

Author: Andy Valvur