Technology
Mars: NASA maps what lies beneath surface of ‘red planet’
NASA’s InSight lander has granted permission to scientists to map the inside of another planet for the first time in history.
It has been reported that following the launch of InSight on the Martian surface, the eighth robotic explorer that was placed on the planet’s surface to listen for marsquakes and to understand what lies under the surface of the red planet.
Using the data acquired by Insight’s seismometer, a team of researchers explain the interior of our neighboring planet in a series of studies that were published in the journal Science. A seismometer is a device that responds to vibrations and noise below Mars’ surface. The global researches have analyzed the marsquakes which were first felt in 2019, to uncover the internal functioning of another planet in our solar system for the very first time, a revolution for planetary geoscience.
Scientists mention that even though the features of the planet, have long been discovered with time, the surface below the planet and its working has always been an enigma. The anatomy of the planet the scientist has reported resemble an onion, Mars has layers.
"For all we know about Mars -- most of it is limited to the top meter," Gretchen Benedix said, an astrogeologist at Curtin University in Australia. "It's like looking at a present and focusing on the wrapping."
“It has been stated that with the discovery of these new studies, technologists are researching these layers and studying the waves that were detected by InSight’s SEIS, ‘’this new information is like opening the gift to take a peek’’, said Benedix.
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A study led by Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, a geophysicist at the University of Cologne concludes that the upper layer of the crust is made of basalt rock from ancient lava flows, is approximately 10 kilometers thick. But InSight’s data reveals that another layer, almost double that size, lies just under it. Knapmeyer-Endrun in a press release said that underneath that, might be where the "mantle" begins, which would make Mars' crust surprisingly thin.
However, the research team reports that there is a possibility of a third layer in the crust, which might be around 40 kilometers deep down.
The data has amazed the researchers with a new revelation about the Martian core. The data published in Science on Thursday, suggests that the iron-nickel core is less dense than previously predicted, but is in a liquid state as other studies have argued which happens to be an eye-opener for scientists.
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, and is the second-smallest planet in the Solar System.