--- title: "NASA’s Mars Lander Places Instrument to Listen for “Marsquakes”" description: "## Another Milestone" date: "2018-12-20" modified: "2018-12-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-insight-lander-placed-seismometer-surface-of-mars" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "mars" - "NASA" - "nasa insight" - "seismic monitoring" --- # NASA’s Mars Lander Places Instrument to Listen for “Marsquakes” ![NASA's InSight lander just successfully placed its seismometer five feet from itself onto the surface of Mars.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Another Milestone NASA's InSight lander should be proud. Today, it reached out with its six-foot robotic arm to grab one of its two primary instruments — a seismometer designed to taking the Red Planet's "pulse," as NASA [puts it]() — and gently placed it on the Martian surface. The apparatus could help learn more about the deep interior of the Red Planet, and even whether it contains water. https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1075755231642861574 It marks the first time a scientific instrument has been placed onto the surface of another planet, according to NASA. "Getting the seismometer safely on the ground is an awesome Christmas present," said InSight Project Manager Tom Hoffman in an [update]() on NASA's website. ## Taking Mars' Pulse The seismometer — or SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure — fulfills a very important function. It will closely listen to the motion of the ground — also known as "marsquakes" — to help scientists probe the layers and compositions of Mars' interior. It could also tell us what the Martian core is made of: is it liquid or solid? How does Mars' composition compare to the Earth's? By knowing what the interior is made of, scientists could discover [whether it contains water]() or if there's volcanic activity beneath the surface. Scientists are also hoping to find out what is causing the waves and tremors on Mars — is it only marsquakes or are they also caused by meteorite strikes? How frequent are these meteorite strikes? ## Next Steps It'll take weeks until scientists will be able to receive the first data points from the seismometer. "We look forward to popping some Champagne when we start to get data from InSight's seismometer on the ground," said InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt, as [quoted]() by NASA. "I have a bottle ready for the occasion." The next InSight instrument to join the seismometer on the ground is a [heat probe]() that will dig itself into the ground to measure how much heat is flowing out of Mars. **READ MORE:** [NASA's InSight Lander Plops Seismometer on Mars to Hunt Marsquakes \[Space.com\]]() ***More on NASA's InSight lander: [Breaking: NASA's InSight Lander Just Landed on Mars]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()