Mars, also known as the Red Planet, will soon welcome another robotic visitor sent from our Blue Planet. On May 5, 2018, NASA launched the InSight mission, an elaborate acronym for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. When the InSight lander reaches its destination in late November 2018, it will probe the Martian interior as never before. The mission's goal is to understand the formation and evolution of Mars, which should duly inform the origin of other rocky planets, including Earth, Venus, and Mercury, along with rocky exoplanets. A second InSight goal is to gauge the current levels of tectonic activity on Mars, as well as the impact rate from micrometeorites. See also: Earth; Earth's interior; Exoplanet; Mars; Mercury (planet); Micrometeorite; Planet; Solar system; Star; Venus
In order to reach Mars' surface, InSight must first barrel through the planet's atmosphere behind a protective heat shield, and then deploy a parachute and burn its descent engines to complete a soft landing. Once situated, InSight will deploy a series of geological—or, pertaining to Mars, areological—instruments. One is a seismometer to measure "marsquakes" and general seismic vibrations on Mars; NASA likens these measurements to taking the planet's "pulse." A second instrument, called a heat probe, will burrow down as far as 5 m (16 ft) into the Martian soil. Sticking with the medical metaphors, the heat probe will take Mars' "temperature" by measuring the rate of heat flow out of the world, which is determined by the composition of the Martian interior. This composition, in turn, speaks to the planet's formation approximately 4.6 billion years ago, along with the rest of our solar system. The third scientific instrument is a duo of radio antennas. These devices will precisely measure InSight's location. The location is affected by the degree to which the North Pole of Mars wobbles as the planet orbits the Sun. The amount of wobbling provides further information about the size and composition of the metallic core deep inside the Red Planet. Overall, these data obtained by InSight will present an unprecedentedly detailed picture of the development of Mars. See also: Earthquake; Earth's core; Earth's heat flow; Geology; Heat; Orbital motion; Seismographic instrumentation; Seismology; Sun
Although Mars is the most-explored planet in our solar system besides our own, fundamental questions about its early history and current conditions remain unanswered. Mars draws significant attention because scientists think that around three billion years ago, the planet was actually warm, wet, and conducive to life—a very different place from the inhospitable, frigid desert it has since become. If life did emerge on Mars, it might still persist today, actively living underground with access to water or in a dormant state. InSight will aid in this habitability investigation by drawing big-picture comparisons between Earth—the only place we know where life has arisen—and the ever-beguiling Red Planet. See also: Astrobiology; Climate modeling; Dormancy; Extraterrestrial intelligence; Water
