Seismometer on Mars

NASA’s InSight ‘Hears’ Peculiar Sounds on Mars

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Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

 

 

Clouds drift over the dome-covered seismometer
NASA’s InSight used its Instrument Context Camera (ICC) beneath the lander’s deck to image these drifting clouds at sunset. This series of images was taken on April 25, 2019, the 145th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, starting at around 6:30 p.m. Mars local time. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

Put an ear to the ground on Mars and you’ll be rewarded with a symphony of sounds. Granted, you’ll need superhuman hearing, but NASA’s InSight lander comes equipped with a very special “ear.”

The spacecraft’s exquisitely sensitive seismometer, called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), can pick up vibrations as subtle as a breeze. The instrument was provided by the French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), and its partners.

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This entry was posted in Cosmology, European Space Agency, Imperial College London, UK, Mars, Mars Insight Lander, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Missions and Studies Specific To Mars, NASA/JPL-Caltech, News, Oxford University, UK, Planetary Science, Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika, Poland, Research for Manned Trip to Mars, Seismometer on Mars, Sounds On Mars Study, Study of Marsquakes, Unmanned Probe and tagged , , , , , , .

Study Finds New Wrinkles on Earth’s Moon

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Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

 

New surface features of the Moon have been discovered in a region called Mare Frigoris, outlined here in teal. This image is a mosaic composed of many images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).Credit: NASA

 

Billions of years ago, Earth’s Moon formed vast basins called “mare” (pronounced MAR-ay). Scientists have long assumed these basins were dead, still places where the last geologic activity occurred long before dinosaurs roamed Earth.

But a survey of more than 12,000 images reveals that at least one lunar mare has been cracking and shifting as much as other parts of the Moon – and may even be doing so today. The study adds to a growing understanding that the Moon is an actively changing world.

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This entry was posted in Earth's Moon, Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL Pasadena CA, Lobate Thrusts, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Mars Insight Lander, Mars Quake Detection, Moonquakes, Nature Geoscience, News, Publications, Seismometer on Mars and tagged , , , , , , .

NASA’s InSight Places First Instrument on Mars

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Jia-Rui Cook / Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

 

NASA’s InSight lander placed its seismometer on Mars on Dec. 19, 2018. This was the first time a seismometer had ever been placed onto the surface of another planet. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

NASA’s InSight lander has deployed its first instrument onto the surface of Mars, completing a major mission milestone. New images from the lander show the seismometer on the ground, its copper-colored covering faintly illuminated in the Martian dusk. It looks as if all is calm and all is bright for InSight, heading into the end of the year.

 

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This entry was posted in Mars, Mars Insight Lander, Mars Quake Detection, Missions and Studies Specific To Mars, NASA/JPL-Caltech, Seismometer on Mars and tagged , , , , , , .