InSight was sent to Mars in 2018 to study the internal structure of the Red Planet and shed light on how rocky planets, moons and meteorites in the solar system formed. It detected its first ‘Marsquakes’ in 2019 which proved that the planet was seismically active underneath the surface.
Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the 'Very Broad Band' (VBB) SEIS seismometer, Nasa scientists were able to determine the internal structure of Mars.
They estimated of the size of the planet’s core, the thickness of its crust and the structure of its mantle based on the analysis of seismic waves reflected and modified by interfaces in its interior.
It is the first-ever seismic exploration of the internal structure of a terrestrial planet other than Earth and an important step towards understanding the formation and thermal evolution of Mars.
Before Nasa’s InSight mission, the internal structure of Mars was somewhat...