Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Why Mars?

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) will conduct an investigation in Mars that will explore the planet’s deep interior. This investigation will be addressing one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science. The purpose of this mission is to understand the processes that gave shape to the inner solar system rocky planets. By using sophisticated geophysical appliances, NASA will be detecting the fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial planet formation by exploring the deepest surface of Mars. The question is, Why Mars? Because previous generations have investigated the surface of the planet by investigating its rocks, volcanoes and more but no one has investigated the planet’s building blocks. Furthermore, InSight is more than a Mar’s mission, it is an investigation of terrestrial planet explorer that will go back billions of years ago, opening a new window into the change that shaped the rocky planets of the inners solar system and it will include Earth. InSight is based on the proven Phoenix Mars spacecraft and lander design with state-of-the-art avionics from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory missions.

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