InSight Lander: probing the Martian interior

Editor's Note (November 26): The landing of Mars InSight today! Learn more about the planned landing and continue to visit Space.com for updates on this exciting mission. NASA's InSight Mars Lander: Full coverage

NASA's InSight Mars probe is a stationary probe designed to study the inside of the red planet. It will be a stationary mission, not like the famous rovers Opportunity, Spirit and Curiosity NASA. Staying in place is necessary to achieve its main scientific goals, which include learning more about Mars composition and the tectonic activity of Mars. The mission will also be notable for its CubeSats, which will be the first time such a tiny vessel will fly beyond Earth.

InSight was launched to Mars on May 5, 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on an Atlas V vehicle from United Launch Alliance. If successful, the mission will land on November 26, 2018 at the Elysium Martian Planitia, an equatorial area just south of an old volcanic area. InSight will send data on the inside of the Red Planet for about a year in March, or 728 Earth days (just over two Earth years). You can see the launch photos here.

InSight is a shortcut to a rather long name: inland exploration using seismic surveys, geodesy and heat transport. The mission has a total cost of $ 814 million, said NASA officials.

Brief history of development

InSight was one of 28 proposals submitted for NASA's next Discovery mission in 2010. This type of mission is a low-cost solar system explorer. When selecting InSight, individual proposals should not exceed $ 425 million, not counting the cost of the launcher.

InSight – then known as the Geophysical Monitoring Station (GEMS) – and two other finalists (Titan Mare Explorer and Comet Hopper) each received $ 3 million in May 2011 for a concept study. InSight was operated in August 2012 for the next launch. The construction of InSight began in May 2014. Its manufacturer is Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

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In December 2015, NASA announced that it could not be launched as planned in March 2016 due to a leak from one of the instrument instruments, the Experiment for Interior earthquake. Structure (SEIS). At the time, agency officials said the mission could be fully removed from the launch manifesto. One of the limitations cited by the organization was the $ 675 million in mission costs, which included launch, data analysis and scientific operations. (At the time, they had spent $ 525 million.)

In the following fall, in September 2016, NASA announced a revised launch date for InSight. The delay announced until the spring of 2018 has not been a big surprise for the community, as the orbits of Mars and Earth only align well for one spacecraft flight every 26 month; outside this window, you need too much fuel to get to the red planet easily.

"The redesign of the instrument and the two-year deadline add $ 153.8 million" to the mission cost of $ 675 million, NASA said in a statement. "The additional cost will not delay or cancel any current mission, even if there will be fewer opportunities for new missions in the coming years, from the 2017-2020 fiscal years", he added.

Scientific objectives and instruments

According to NASA, InSight has two major scientific goals. The first is to look inside – what is being done and what processes are happening. The lander will provide information on the size and composition of the Martian core, crust and mantle. It will also show "the heat of the interior and the amount of heat circulating in it," NASA said. The second objective is to know if Mars is tectonically active (including where the seismic activity is located) and how often meteorites enter the surface.

InSight in Pictures: NASA's mission to probe the core of Mars

"Previous missions on the red planet have studied its surface by studying its canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil, but the signature of the planet's formation can only be found by detecting and studying its signs. vitals far below the surface, "NASA said.

According to NASA, InSight has three instruments designed to explore deep inside Mars and learn about the geological activity of the planet, its heat and the elements of its evolution.

• The Seismic Experience for Interior Structure (SEIS) will detect seismic waves from meteorite impacts, magma movements inside the planet or marsquakes.

• The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe, or HP³will bury about 5 meters (16 feet) from the surface. His main job is to detect the heat underground.

• The Rotation Experience and Internal Structure, or RISE, will aim to provide more information on the composition of the Martian nucleus. It will keep a careful record of the location of the LG and, from this information, will discern any oscillation of the orbit of Mars when the planet will turn around the sun. The composition of the nucleus will influence the degree and type of oscillation felt by Mars.

InSight has a robotic arm over 2.4 m long. This arm will place the seismometer and heat flow sensor on the surface for their measurements. The arm also has a camera that will take "3D color views of the landing site, instrument placement and activities," according to NASA. In addition, InSight has sensors to provide information on the weather and any local magnetic field changes near the LG.

Rolling with InSight will be the first cube to fly beyond the Earth. The experiment, which encompasses two spacecraft, calls Mars Cube One. The cubesats will fly behind InSight on his trip to Mars. NASA has named the cubesats "Wall-E" and "Eva" because they use a fire extinguisher fluid as a propellant booster, just like the animated robot of Disney's "Wall-E" movie.

If successful, once InSight begins to penetrate the Martian atmosphere, the cubesats will send Earth information about the last few minutes of the probe from the surface of the red planet.

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