NASA InSight Lander ‘Hears’ Martian Winds

NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander touched down on Mars just 10 days ago. It has provided the first ever “sounds” of Martian winds on the Red Planet.
InSight sensors captured a haunting low rumble. Vibrations from the wind caused these. Scientists estimate these blowing between 10 to 15 mph (5 to 7 meters a second) on Dec. 1, from northwest to southeast. The winds were consistent with the direction of dust devil streaks in the landing area. They were observable from orbit.
“Capturing this audio was an unplanned treat,” said Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “But one of the things our mission is dedicated to is measuring motion on Mars, and naturally that includes motion caused by sound waves.”

Sensitive sensors

Two very sensitive sensors on the spacecraft have detected these wind vibrations: an air pressure sensor inside the lander and a seismometer sitting on the lander’s deck, awaiting deployment by InSight’s robotic arm. The two instruments recorded the wind noise in different ways. The air pressure sensor, part of the Auxiliary Payload Sensor Subsystem (APSS), which will collect meteorological data, recorded these air vibrations directly. The seismometer recorded lander vibrations caused by the wind moving over the spacecraft’s solar panels, which are each 7 feet (2.2 meters) in diameter and stick out from the sides of the lander like a giant pair of ears.

SEIS

This is the only phase of the mission during which the seismometer. The name is the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS). It will be capable of detecting vibrations that the lander generated directly. In a few weeks, it will take its place on the Martian surface by InSight’s robotic arm. Then, a domed shield shall cover to protect it from wind and temperature changes. So, it still will detect the lander’s movement through the Martian surface. For now, it’s recording vibrational data. Scientists later will be able to use it to cancel out noise from the lander when SEIS is on the surface. Hence, it shall allow them to detect better actual marsquakes.

Marsquakes

When earthquakes occur on Earth, their vibrations bounce around inside our planet. So, they make it “ring” similar to how a bell creates sound. InSight will see if tremors, or marsquakes, have a similar effect on Mars. Hence, SEIS will detect these vibrations that will tell us about the Red Planet’s deep interior. Scientists hope this will lead to new information on the formation of the planets in our solar system, perhaps even of our own planet.