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<\/p>\nNASA\u2019s InSight lander, formally known as the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport mission, wrapped a four-year scientific expedition on Mars in December 2022 after the lander succumbed to low power levels.<\/p>\n
Throughout its mission, InSight studied Mars extensively, collecting a plethora of ground-breaking science on the planet\u2019s interior and exterior geologic processes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Following the craft\u2019s landing on Mars on Nov. 26, 2018, at Elysium Planitia, just four degrees above the equator, a main scientific aspect of the flight was to deploy a seismometer onto the Martian surface.<\/p>\n
InSight was the first mission to detect and measure seismic activity on another planet, recording over 1,300 quakes \u2014 the largest two of which measured 4.2 and 5 on the Richter scale.<\/p>\n
A magnitude 5 quake was the approximate upper limit of seismic activity teams expected and hoped to monitor with InSight.<\/p>\n
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The SEIS instrument, seen from InSight. (Credit: NASA\/JPL)<\/p>\n
Called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), the seismometer experiment was provided by France\u2019s Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES) and placed onto the surface of Mars by the lander\u2019s Instrument Deployment Arm. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Aerospace industry analysis (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n So important was the seismometer for InSight and future Martian exploration initiatives that it was one of two experiments to receive priority during the mission\u2019s final year of operation when power consumption vs. production was carefully monitored and controlled.<\/p>\n The other instrument to receive this priority was the lander\u2019s weather station.<\/p>\n As with previous NASA missions and payloads sent to Mars, the seismometer\u2019s development was not without issue, with development delays contributing to the mission\u2019s launch postponement from 2016 to 2018.<\/p>\n However, once on Mars, the situation changed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the instrument actually got to Mars, it really behaved and performed flawlessly and was able to actually measure at a precision that was almost 10 times better than our design goal,\u201d related William \u201cBruce\u201d Banerdt, the Principal Investigator on the InSight mission in an interview with NASASpaceflight.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n