Landing of InSight probe
After years of research, months of fine-tuning, thousands of working hours, a journey of 485 million kilometers, and "7 minutes of terror", the InSight probe, the fruit of international collaboration and carrying the SEIS seismometer designed at IPGP, landed on Mars on Monday, November 26th, 2018.
Artist's view of the InSight landing on Mars. IPGP - Manchu - Agence 21
Publication date: 16/11/2018
Observatories, Press
Related observatories : InSight Observatory
Related themes : Earth and Planetary Interiors
The 12th mission in NASA’s Discovery programme, InSight aims to study the internal structure of Mars and to understand the formation and evolution of the rocky planets in the Solar System.
Its scientific objective is to better understand the internal structure of Mars, how the planet formed and how it evolved to become the icy desert it is today. Using sophisticated geophysical instruments never before used on Mars, InSight will measure the Red Planet’s seismic activity, its internal heat flow and the subtle variations in its rotation speed.
The SEIS seismometer is the mission’s central instrument. The IPGP is in charge of the scientific aspects, under the supervision of CNES. The InSight-IPGP team of engineers and researchers designed and tested the VBB (Very Broad Band) sensors. The aim of SEIS is to analyse Mars’ ‘tremors’ and meteorite impacts in order to visualise its interior.
