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You do not need wheels to explore Mars.
After landing in November, NASA's InSight probe
will deploy its solar panels, unfold a robotic arm … and stay put. Unlike the
Space agency rovers, InSight is a lander designed to study an entire planet
This sedentary science allows InSight to detect geophysical phenomena.
signals below the Martian surface, including earthquakes and heat. scientific
will also be able to follow the radio signals from the still spaceship, which will vary
based on the jitter in the rotation of Mars. Understanding this flicker could help
Solve the mystery of whether the core of the planet is solid.
Here are five things to know about how InSight drives
his science.
1. InSight can measure earthquakes anywhere on the planet
Earthquakes are usually detected with the help of
seismometers. InSight has one – called SEIS
(Seismic experience for the inner structure) – so that his scientific team will use some
creative measures to badyze seismic waves as they occur anywhere on the
planet.
SEIS will measure the seismic waves of marsquakes and
meteorite hits as they move through Mars. The speed of these waves changes
depending on the material they're going through, help the scientists to deduct
what is the interior of the planet doing?
Seismic waves come in a surprising number of flavors. Some
vibrate on the surface of a planet, while others ricochet from its center. They
also move at different speeds. Seismologists can use each type as a tool to
triangulate where and when a seismic event has occurred.
This means that InSight could have landed anywhere on Mars and,
without moving, put together the same kind of science.
2. InSight Seismometer Needs Peace and Tranquility
Seismometers are inherently sensitive. They need to be
isolated from "noise" to accurately measure seismic waves.
SEIS is sensitive enough to detect vibrations below
the width of a hydrogen atom. This will be the first seismometer ever installed on the
Martian surface, where it will be thousands of times more accurate than
Seismometers installed at the top of the Viking landing gear.
To take advantage of this exquisite sensitivity, engineers
gave SEIS a shell: a heat and wind shield that the InSight arm will place
on the seismometer. This protective dome builds when the wind blows
he; a mylar skirt and mesh stitches prevents the wind from blowing in. It also gives SEIS
a comfortable place to hide from the strong temperature changes in Mars, which can
create minute changes in the springs and electronic components of the instrument.
3. Does InSight have a self-hammering nail
Have you ever tried hammering a nail? So you know
stabilize it is the key. InSight carries a nail that must also be held
stable.
This unique instrument, called HP 3 .
(Set of heat fluxes and physical properties), contains a peak attached to a
attached. A mechanism inside the tip will hammer it up to 5 meters
underground, pulling on the cable, which is embedded with heat sensors.
At this depth, he can detect the heat trapped in Mars.
since the planet was formed. This heat has shaped the surface
with volcanoes, mountain ranges and valleys. He may even have determined where
rivers flowed early in the history of Mars.
4. InSight can land in a safe place
Because InSight needs calm and can
collect seismic and thermal data from anywhere on the planet – the spacecraft is free
land in the safest place possible.
The InSight team chose a location on the equator of Mars, called
Elysium Planitia – as flat and boring as any other on Mars. It's landing
just a little easier, because there is less crash, fewer pebbles and
lots of sun to power the spaceship. The fact that InSight does not use
a lot of power and should have a lot of sun at the equator of Mars means that it can
provide a lot of data to study by scientists.
5. InSight can measure the Mars Wobble
InSight has two X-band antennas on its bridge that form a
third instrument, called RISE (Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment).
The radio signals from RISE will be measured over months, or even years, for
study the tiny "wobble" in the rotation of the planet. This flicker is
a sign of whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid – a trait that could also be lost
light on the thin magnetic field of the planet.
The collection of detailed data on this oscillation did not take place
since the three-month Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 (although the opportunity
rover did some measurements in 2011 while he stood still, waiting for the
winter). Whenever a stationary spacecraft sends out Mars radio signals, it
can help scientists improve their measurements.
About InSight
The JPL Manages InSight for NASA Science
Mission Direction. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery program, managed by
Marshall Space Flight Center's agency in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed
Martin Space in Denver built the InSight probe, including its cruise stage
and lander and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.
A number of European partners, including
French National Center for Space Studies (CNES) and the German aerospace sector
Center (DLR), supports the InSight mission. CNES provided the seismic experiment
for internal structure instrument (SEIS), with
significant contributions of the Max Planck Institute to the solar system
Research (MPS) in Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in
Switzerland, Imperial College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and
JPL. DLR has provided the HP3 instrument (Heat Flux and Physical Properties).
For more information on InSight, visit:
https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/
Good
Reaction Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
818-393-2433
[email protected]
2018-246
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