Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAll pendulum movement will be registered by SEIS\u2019 displacement sensor, which consists of electrodes placed on both the mobile and fixed parts of the VBBs. The pendulums\u2019 motion will alter the proximity of the electrodes to one another and register the pendulums\u2019 displacement.<\/p>\n
The three SP seismic probes aboard SEIS will measure ground acceleration, the amount that the ground shakes in a specific area during a quake. Each SP probe works by using sensors to record the motion of a mobile mass along several axes of sensibility.<\/p>\n
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![\"Z77\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z772.jpg\")
SEIS, which will be supported by a frame when onboard InSight, will be lowered from the main body of the lander and will rest on three deployable feet.<\/p>\n
The flight software accompanying SEIS will manage the instrument\u2019s deployment, levelling and data collection and transmission. In order to maximize SEIS\u2019 usefulness, the software will produce highly compressed reports of potential seismic activity and transmit them to Earth via InSight\u2019s antennae.<\/p>\n
Then, scientists will highlight particularly interesting activity from the compressed reports and trigger SEIS to transmit raw, uncompressed data of the activity.<\/p>\n
Because seismic data must be collected constantly, SEIS\u2019 software will erase all \u201cuseless\u201d data to free space for further data collection.<\/p>\n
*Click here for more Mars News Articles*<\/p>\n
SEIS will be the first seismometer on Mars since NASA\u2019s Viking 2 seismometer in 1976. Viking 2\u2019s seismometer found only one potential marsquake, and its data was marred by false readings from wind interference, according to NASA technical reports.<\/p>\n
A Planetary Hammer
The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP\u00b3) is another of Insight\u2019s experiments.<\/p>\n
Designed by The German Aerospace Institute (DLR), HP\u00b3 will hammer 5 meters into the Martian surface, further than any probe has ever peered into Mars\u2019 interior, and take subterranean temperature readings.
![\"Z7\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z79.jpg\")
\u201cHP3 consists of a so called \u2018Mole\u2019, which will hammer itself into the subsurface. The mole pulls an instrumented tether behind it, which is equipped with temperature sensors to determine the thermal gradient in the ground,\u201d noted DLR information.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mole is targeted for a depth of 5 m below the surface. In addition to the temperature sensors, the mole is equipped with heating foils, which will be used to determine the thermal conductivity of the regolith by operating the mole as a modified line heat source.\u201d
![\"Z8\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z89.jpg\")
A lander-mounted radiometer, which will measure surface temperatures at the landing site, will complement HP\u00b3. Surface temperature readings will allow scientists to better interpret temperature variations HP\u00b3 encounters as it probes below the Martian surface.<\/p>\n
For instance, a shadowed area of surface may cause cooler temperature readings in the soil below it. In addition, the radiometer will detect the dust coverage and soil compaction of the surface.
HP\u00b3 is derived from the designs of both the Multi-Purpose Sensor (MUPUS) aboard ESA\u2019s Rosetta spacecraft and the Planetary Underground Tool (PLUTO), which would have peered beneath the Martian surface from the Beagle 2 lander.
Tracking Wobble:
The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE), another InSight experiment, will calculate the precession, or wobble, of Mars\u2019 axis and provide clues to Mars\u2019 internal structure.<\/p>\n
![\"Z10\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z10.jpg\")
RISE is being developed by NASA\u2019s JPL and will build on previous studies of Mars\u2019 wobble, including studies by the Viking, Mars Pathfinder and Mars Odyssey missions.
According to RISE documentation from the 2012 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, RISE, like the studies before it, will use the Doppler shift, or change in frequency over time, of radio signals sent between Earth and Mars to calculate the degree of wobble in Mars\u2019 axis.
Improved estimates of the amount of wobble in Mars\u2019 axis will lead to more precise estimates of the size and consistency of the planet\u2019s core, which is thought to be fluid.
![\"Z9\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z95.jpg\")
Data from RISE will improve estimates of Mars\u2019 rotation-rate variation, which is the irregularity in the rate of Mars\u2019 rotation.<\/p>\n
Mars\u2019 rotation-rate variation is an effect of \u201cseasonal exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ice caps,\u201d according to the conference documentation.
The RISE equipment, which includes \u201cmultiple antennas, a transponder for detection of signals from Earth and generation of signals coherent with the received signals, and a solid-state power amplifier for generating the signals transmitted back to Earth,\u201d will double as a backup for InSight\u2019s primary data relay system, the conference materials say.<\/p>\n
Normally, InSight will use an ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio to transmit data to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.<\/p>\n
The orbiters then will relay the data to Earth, providing a more energy-efficient data transmission pathway than direct lander-to-Earth transmissions. However, should orbiter relay become inhibited, RISE\u2019s antennae will provide direct transmission of a \u201cmoderate\u201d amount of data to Earth.
\n
InSight for Humans:
InSight\u2019s mission is part of NASA\u2019s broader push to better understand Mars and send humans to the Red Planet.
![\"Z11\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z111.jpg\")
Once it lands on Mars, InSight will join a growing fleet of active NASA and ESA robotic vehicles on and around Mars, including the Mars Express orbiter, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, the Opportunity rover, MRO and, most recently, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover.
Under current proposals, InSight may be followed by Mars 2020, an MSL-derived rover that would continue NASA\u2019s investigation into Mars\u2019 past habitability.
NASA\u2019s ultimate goal, as conceptualized in the latest NASA concept of operations (ConOps) documentation, is to use the under-development Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew vehicle, along with habitation and landing modules, to send humans on a long-duration mission to Mars sometime in the 2030s.<\/p>\n
(Images via NASA, NASA JPL, DLR and CNES).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This past week, NASA announced the approval of construction of the Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars lander. Set to launch in 2016, InSight will study Mars\u2019 interior structure and pave the way for an eventual manned mission to the Red Planet. Following Phoenix:InSight, to be constructed by Lockheed Martin, features […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[927,4129,367],"class_list":["post-39577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-insight","tag-jpl","tag-mars"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Z3\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z34.jpg\")
According to the latest NASA renderings, InSight, like Phoenix, will feature a three-legged landing platform and two round solar arrays. However, InSight will carry a different assortment of scientific instruments and will land near Mars\u2019 equator.<\/p>\n![\"Z4\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z43.jpg\")
Phoenix launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. InSight will launch on an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.![\"Z5\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z53.jpg\")
One of InSight\u2019s experiments, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), uses a seismometer that will scout for \u201cmarsquakes.\u201d<\/p>\n