Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. News

Scientists re-create marsquakes here on Earth using data from InSight lander

By

This artist’s concept is a simulation of what seismic waves from a marsquake might look like as they move through different layers of the Martian interior. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ETH Zurich/ Van Driel
One of the primary objectives of the InSight mission is to gather information from a seismometer placed on the surface of Mars. The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) listens to vibrations from within the ground, known as marsquakes, which can reveal information about the internal structure of the planet such as what the layers beneath the surface rock may be composed of.

The seismometer is very sensitive and even managed to pick up the sound of the wind on Mars from sitting on the surface. Now, the team at ETH Zurich which checks the data gathered by InSight for evidence of the quakes has re-created the experience of marsquake here on Earth.

Marsquake: How does it feel like?

To really give people the feel of what a marsquake might be like, the team at ETH uses a simulator room belonging to the Swiss Seismological Service (also known as a “shake room”) to replay the effects of the quakes they have detected on Mars. The signals from Mars are amplified by a factor of 10 million so that the subtle tremors can be felt in the simulator room. You can see for yourself how different the tremors are when they are based on earthquakes, moonquakes, or marsquakes.

Recommended Videos

Unlike earthquakes which have a very clear onset and end and typically between last a few seconds and half a minute, marsquakes can have much longer durations of minutes or even hours. And there are two types of marsquakes that have been observed so far: Higher frequency and lower frequency quakes. The difference between the two is likely determined by the distance of the origin of the quake from InSight.

There are plenty of questions still to be answered about marsquakes, and more data from InSight may shed light on these mysteries. “It’s a big jigsaw puzzle at this stage,” John Clinton, head of the Marsquake Service at ETH Zurich, said in the video, “and we have a long way to go before we understand it.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…
Time has run out for InSight to bury its heat probe in the Martian soil
In this artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet's subsurface can be seen below, and dust devils can be seen in the background.

In this artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet's subsurface can be seen below, and dust devils can be seen in the background. IPGP/Nicolas Sarter

Poor little InSight lander. NASA's explorer on Mars has spent nearly two years trying to bury its heat probe in the uncooperative Martian soil, which turned out to have a slightly different amount of friction than was expected. After trying fixes of all kinds, NASA has now announced it is giving up on getting the probe buried and operational.

Read more
NASA wants to bring a sample of Mars back to Earth: Here’s the plan
In this illustration, NASA's Mars 2020 rover uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars.

In this illustration, NASA's Mars 2020 rover uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's rover Perseverance is due to land on Mars in February next year, where it will join its sibling Curiosity in exploring the red planet and searching for evidence of ancient life. But this is just the first part of NASA's plans for the planet. The next step after having rovers gather data and analyze samples on the planet is to actually collect a sample of the Martian rock and soil and bring it back to Earth where it can be studied in more detail.

Read more
NASA’s InSight lander finally buries its probe beneath Martian surface
Most significant science new and breakthroughs of 2018

NASA's InSight lander has been struggling on Mars for more than a year. Although the lander is taking great readings of marsquakes beneath the planet's surface and has even captured the sounds of Mars, it has had problems with burying its heat probe in the martian ground. Now, the heat probe has successfully made it beneath the surface, leaving the scientists and engineers hopeful that it will be able to get back to its mission of collecting temperature information from inside the planet.

The problem occurred because the martian soil around the lander is just a little bit different than expected. The soil tends to stick together in clumps, and that makes it hard for the heat probe, also known as the mole, to grab onto. The mole needs friction to move through the soil, but it has struggled, and when it used it hammering action to try to get deeper, it popped out of the hole entirely. So the team has used techniques like pushing on the end of the mole with the lander's robotic arm to force it into place.

Read more