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NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA's InSight satellite placed its seismometer on the ground of Mars on December 19, 2018. This is the first time that a seismometer has been placed at the surface of another planet.
NASA's InSight landing module placed its first instrument on the surface of Mars, thus reaching an important milestone of the mission.
New images of the LG show the seismometer on the ground, slightly covered in copper color. illuminated by the Martian twilight. The mission went well. "The schedule for InSight's Mars activities is even better than expected," said Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager at NASA's JPL in Pasadena, California. ""
The InSight team is working diligently to deploy its two scientific instruments on Martian soil since it landed on Mars on November 26th. However, the RISE (Rotational Experience and Internal Structure) experiment, which does not have its own separate instrument, has already begun using the InSight radio link with Earth to collect preliminary data on the core of the planet.
Scientists have time to deduce what they want to know – they feel they can get results in about a year .
For the implementation of the seismometer (also called SEIS – Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) and the thermal probe (also called HP3 – Heat flux and physical properties probe) on the ground, engineers had to first check that the robotic arm that raises and places the instruments on the Martian surface is working properly [19659005] Engineers tested the landing module controls by ensuring that a model placed on the test bed, at the JPL, deployed the exact instruments. as expected. Scientists also had to badyze images of the Martian terrain around the LG to find the best places to place the instruments .
Last Tuesday, December 18, InSight engineers sent orders to the module. On Wednesday, December 19, the seismometer was placed gently on the ground directly in front of the undercarriage, roughly at the maximum distance reached by the robotic arm – 1.6 meters.
"Location of the seismometer is as important as the landing of InSight on Mars," says lead mission researcher Bruce Banerdt, also of JPL. "Seismometer is InSight's priority instrument: we need it to reach about three quarters of our scientific goals."
The seismometer allows scientists to traverse the interior of the planet Mars through the study of ground motion – also known as Martian earthquakes. Each Martian earthquake acts as a kind of "flash" that illuminates the structure of the interior of the planet. By badyzing how seismic waves cross the layers of the planet, scientists can deduce the depth and composition of these layers.
"Having a seismometer on the ground is like holding a phone in the ear ", comments Philippe Lognonné. , principal investigator of the SIX of the Institute of the physics of the globe of Paris and the University Paris Diderot.
"We are delighted to be in the best position to hear all the seismic waves in the basement and in the depths of Mars." In the coming days, the InSight team will work to upgrade the seismometer, which rests on a sloping ground of 2 to 3 degrees.
But engineers and scientists from the JPL, the French Space Agency and other institutions affiliated to the SIX team will need a number of scientific data to be pbaded on to the Earth once the instrument will be in the right position. additional weeks to ensure that the data you send is as clear as possible. On the one hand, they will eventually check and adjust the long lined cable connecting the instrument to the undercarriage to minimize the noise that could cross it up to the seismometer. Then, in early January, engineers hope to control the robotic arm to position the windshield and the windshield on the seismometer to stabilize the environment around the sensors.
If no unforeseen problems arise, the InSight team plans to place the detector. the surface thermal probe at the end of January . The HP3 instrument will be placed on the east side of the module 's workspace, at about the same distance from the LG as the seismometer.
However, the team is now focused on obtaining the first seismic data (albeit noisy) from the Martian surface. "We are eager to open a bottle of champagne when we start collecting data from the InSight seismometer," Banerdt adds. "I have a bottle in reserve for the occasion."
The probe lands on Mars at the end of a six and a half month trip after being launched into space on May 5th of this year. The InSight lander represents the return of the probes to the surface of Mars after a six-year interregnum since the Curiosity spacecraft reached the surface of the planet in 2012.
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