First ever ‘Mars quake’ recorded by InSight Lander

NASA launched its InSight Lander probe in November last year to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. One of the objectives of this probe was to study the seismic activity there to create a better understanding of the internal structure of Mars.

Now it seems like this NASA probe might have picked its first ever seismic activity on Mars. On April 6th i.e., 128th Martian Day, the InSight lander detected first seismic activity on Mars. Scientists say the source for this “Marsquake” could either be movement in a crack inside the planet or the shaking from a meteorite impact.

THis will help in picturing a clear image of the interior of Mars and com[aring it with Earth’s rock structure will help in better understanding how these planets have evolved.

THe activity was still not enough to study and could not produce enough data but was able to confirm the existence of seismic activity on Mars.

Seismic Activity on Mars is different than its own Earth, as it does not have tectonic plates, but is caused by the slow shrinking of insides as it cools.

Philippe Lognonne, SEIS team lead at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) in France shared his excitement around the marsquake “We’ve been waiting months for a signal like this. It’s so exciting to finally have proof that Mars is still seismically active. We’re looking forward to sharing detailed results once we’ve had a chance to analyze them”

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