Near-Daily 'Marsquakes' Detected by NASA Insight Seismometer
In November of 2018, the NASA InSight lander landed on Mars; seventy Martian days later, the mission’s seismometer "SEIS" began recording the planet’s vibrations. Engineers from ETH Zurich delivered the SEIS control electronics and are responsible for the "Marsquake Service," which interprets the daily data transmitted from Mars. InSight recorded 174 events until the end of September 2019. Since then, the measurements have continued and have led to over 450 observed marsquakes through the end of February 2020, which have not yet been analyzed in detail. This accounts for one seismic event a day on average. The data allows researchers observing how seismic waves travel through the planet and unveils its internal characteristics. Gaining a better understanding of the interior of Mars is the primary goal of the InSight mission.