After 3 years on the surface of Mars listening for seismic tremors and collecting other data, the end is near for NASA's InSight lander. NASA officials announced today that the probe's science operations will end in July due to dust collecting on the solar panels.
Researchers are celebrating its accomplishments even as they say goodbye to the leggy lander. They include measuring the magnetic field of Mars and detecting more than 1300 earthquakes, which have enabled researchers to map the planet's depths. Paula Koelemeijer, a seismologist at the University of Oxford, says that the mission has been an important first step in studying the interior of Mars.
The Elysium Planitia is a broad, flat plain on the equator. The locale was perfect for the stationary lander. Here, it could deploy its seismometer, which required calm, nearly silent weather conditions in order to detect waves from distant marsquakes.
After the team switched on the instrument, they heard nothing for 2 months. It was feared that marsquakes were too small to be detected.
The fears were allayed when the first earthquake was detected. More than 1300 have been documented by Clinton's Marsquake Service. A monster magnitude 5 marsquake was detected on 4 May. The causes of many of the earthquakes are not known. There are possibilities of remnant volcanic activity, stresses in the crust, or meteorite impacts.
Scientists have a better understanding of the planet's structure thanks to the data from the earthquake. Some researchers expected to find a relatively meager and solid planetary core prior to InSight's arrival. Julia Semprich, a planetary scientist at the Open University, says that it is a really big core. It is molten like Earth's outer core, but it is not clear whether the inner core is liquid or solid.
The martian mantle is a layer sandwiched between the planet's core and crust. It appears to be just a single rocky layer. The thin martian crust appears to have at least two or three layers, with possible evidence for water inside.
The lead on the mission says that they have a map of the inside of Mars. The details are helping researchers understand how it evolved from the solar nebula 4.5 billion years ago.
Evidence of lava flows at its landing site and a magnetic field that is 10 times stronger than expected are some of the key findings. Results from a radio instrument designed to measure the core of Mars have yet to be released.
The $425 million mission has not been plain sailing. The biggest disappointment of the mission was that the heat probe couldn't penetrate the tough surface.
Yosio Nakamura, a planetary seismologist at the University of Texas, Austin, is thrilled that researchers have been able to get so much information from the single seismometer.
Soon, InSight won't have the power to transmit. NASA officials said at a press conference today that the solar panels are generating just one-tenth of the power they were making at the mission's start. The hope that a dust devil would clean the panels has not come to pass. At the end of the year, JPL expects to conclude all operations if it does not.
Researchers are starting to imagine how they might follow InSight's footsteps. Some are planning a seismometer network for the Moon, whereas NASA is planning to take a seismometer to the moon. Jupiter's icy moon Europa is an attractive target. The InSight mission has shown seismology for the incredibly capable technique it is.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
