NASA's InSight Lander will reveal the secrets of Mars

Mars is the second most studied planet – only behind ours – but we know practically nothing about it. All astronomers have to go through models and theories, but not concrete proofs.

NASA's internal exploration mission using seismic surveys, geodesy and heat transport (InSight) aims to change this. InSight will land on Monday, November 26 around 3 pm EST (2:00 GMT), in a hit of "6 minutes of terror" that you can follow live on Space.com. Shortly after, the LG will start looking under the surface of Mars to reveal the secrets of the red planet.

About 4.5 billion years ago, the eight planets of our solar system were formed. The eight planets were formed from a disk of rock, ice and debris in orbit around the young sun. Fast forward to the present and we now see a distinct difference between the inner and outer planets. The terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) all have a dense and rocky structure, with only one capable of supporting life. The Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are all mostly gaseous and swollen to enormous heights. The question that astronomers still can not answer is: how did these terrestrial planets form and evolve? [NASA’s InSight Mars Lander: Full Coverage]

Thanks to modern technology and perseverance, astronomers have tried to answer this question during a period of in-depth exploration of one of our closest neighbors, Mars. However, previous missions could scratch the surface. Where landers, rovers and orbiters have already searched for water on a dry, sandy surface, or designed to study the planet's tiny atmosphere, InSight delves deeper into the unknown. By putting the ears to the ground, astronomers will have a more complete understanding of the core, mantle and crust of the red planet.

"The objectives of the mission are to map the structure and thermal state of the deep interior of Mars for the first time, and to use this information to better understand the early formation processes of the planets including the Earth, "NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) investigator Bruce Banerdt of InSight told Pasadena, California, told All About Space.

Originally scheduled for launch in March 2016, InSight suffered a major setback when a vacuum leak was discovered in one of the LG 's key instruments in December 2015. However, members of the mission team repaired the leak and InSight launched to the red planet at the next available opportunity. , in May 2018. (Mars and Earth align favorably for interplanetary missions every 26 months.)

InSight took off on May 5th at the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, becoming the first interplanetary mission to take off from the west coast of the United States. InSight and two free flying cubesats, called MarCO-A and MarCO-B, then went on a six and a half month journey to a planet that was redder and drier than Earth and about half the size of our world. [Launch Photos: NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Blasts Off on Atlas V Rocket]

From there, InSight can finally join its NASA predecessors to the extent that it finds unmistakable important and revolutionary results, if all goes as planned. (The TCO MarCO-A and MarCO-B cartons have a different destiny, the main mission of the duo is to show that the cubesats can explore the interplanetary space.The duo will attempt to transmit InSight data at home at the touchdown. of the LG, but this task is not essential.As will also do NASA's orbiters on Mars, MarCO-A and MarCO-B will pass in front of Mars on Monday and their missions will end soon after .)

When NASA sent its first successful orbiter in 1971, the Mariner 9, it became the first spacecraft to orbit on another planet, returning more than 7,300 images of the Martian surface and its two moons. Since then, humans have maintained an impressive number of satellites in orbit and probes on the surface, including large and late missions such as the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, the Viking missions 1 and 2 and the Spirit robot.

There are also many active visitors to Mars, including Curiosity and Opportunity rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN). The Phoenix lander, launched on August 4, 2007 and motionless for 157 martian days at the surface (also called soils; a soil, that's about 40 minutes longer than a land day), was designed as planned by InSight based sure.

"InSight will use the same LG design as the 2007 Phoenix mission, giving us a proven landing and surface system without the cost of developing them from scratch," said Banerdt. "In addition, we will use several Mars-based orbiters to relay our valuable data to Earth, and it's hard to exaggerate how much knowledge from previous missions informs InSight science."

The InSight lander will be at a height between 33 and 43 inches (83 and 108 centimeters) above the Martian surface. Once the InSight solar panels deployed, its total reach will be 19.7 feet (6 meters). This equates to roughly two-thirds the length of a London bus. Overall, the lander will weigh 794 pounds. (360 kilograms), accounting for about 88 percent of the mass of the Phoenix lander. This set contains some of the finest and most sensitive instruments ever designed for the planet's soil. They must work for at least one Martian year, which is equivalent to about two terrestrial years.

Before these instruments can flourish, the InSight Lander needs to survive the painful sequence of entry, descent and landing. In about 6 minutes on Monday, the undercarriage will go from 14,692 km / h (14,100 mph) in the March atmosphere to a final stop at the surface. The atmosphere of Mars being 100 times thinner than that of the Earth, it is much harder to slow down the spacecraft. To succeed, a heat shield will cause as much friction as possible with the least possible atmosphere, which will cause it to reach extreme temperatures. The probe will then deploy his parachute, drop his heat shield and extend his legs. After bringing the LG to a reasonable descent speed, the parachute is dropped and 12 boosts at the bottom of the LG begin to fire. This is the last cushion before landing at Elysium Planitia. [Mars InSight: NASA’s Mission to Probe Red Planet’s Core (Gallery)]

Asked why Elysium Planitia was chosen as the nominated home for the duration of the InSight mission, Matthew Golombek of JPL, head of the InSight landing site, told All About Space that 39 "is" because it meets all the technical constraints to land and survive on Mars.It is low near the equator and smooth, flat and relatively free of rocks above the ellipse of landing.

Once the landing is complete and InSight has arrived at your destination, you can prepare its solar panels and instruments. The expansion of the solar panels is the most essential part of the whole mission, because the undercarriage will be powered by the less intense rays of a distant sun. The sun shines about half as much on Mars as on Earth, which means that InSight's solar panels must be able to extract as much of the sun's energy from these rays as possible. Once its wings are deployed, the instruments can be deployed and the mysteries of Mars' coat and malicious core can be unveiled. The Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA) will place the Seismometer, Seismic Experience for Interior Structure (SEIS) and Heat Flow Probe, Heat Flow and Physical Properties (HP3) sensor, On the ground. Alongside a radio-science survey, the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE), this tactical trio will be at the forefront of domestic investigations.

Each instrument has been carefully planned and created to perform a very specific task. SEIS will be the first seismometer on Mars for 40 years and will be listening for tremors that could come from March tremors, meteorite impacts or even possibly magma running deep beneath the surface of the red planet. In fact, this Martian stethoscope is so sensitive that it can pick up vibrations smaller than an atom of hydrogen.

"SEIS will be placed on the ground by a robotic arm and will" listen "to the small vibrations of the ground (fractions of nanometer) due to seismic waves that have crossed the planet after distant earthquakes," Banerdt said. "The analysis of these waves will allow us to create a 3D image of the interior of the planet."

The InSight team also plans to collaborate with the MRO mission, which will be on the lookout for meteorite impacts. When the seismometer detects a meteorological impact, MRO and its meticulous HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera detect the new crater.

SEIS is an exercise that will take the temperature of the planet. HP3 will make its way up to 5 meters in the Martian crust. This represents only 10% of the total crust of Mars, but the depth is sufficient to allow astronomers to analyze the heat from the depths of the planet. The heat that flows beneath the surface reveals how active the planet is. On Earth, we are well aware that a region of magma is under our crust that animates our tectonic plates and warms our planet. The heat flux inside Mars could be compared to that of Earth and reveal that both are formed from the same substances. If they are not, why not?

"We are basically doing the same thing as everyone on a campsite, but we are placing our bet on Mars," said Suzanne Smrekar of JPL, Assistant Principal Investigator of InSight.

"Getting well below the surface takes us away from the influence of the sun and allows us to measure the heat coming from the inside," she added. "InSight will take the pulse and vital signs of the red planet for a Martian year, two Earth years, we will really have the opportunity to understand the processes that control early planetary formation."

This article was provided by Space.com's sister publication, All About Space, a print magazine dedicated to astronomy, space exploration, and the night sky. Sign up for the All About Space newsletter for information on news and subscriptions! follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. This version of the story published on Space.com.