We now know that Mars is “hot and sticky”

Data from Insight Lander reveal new, unseen details about the internal structure of Mars (crust, mantle, core). The planet may be cold on the outside, but it is described as “hot and thin” on the inside.

What is the heart and interior of Mars like? Data from NASA’s Insight Lander allows us to know this a little better. ” The hundreds of Mars tremors I have just measured confirm this, Tweeted the official account ASNASAInSight July 23, 2021. Mars may be cold and crisp on the outside, but it will be hot and cold on the inside. New scientific results from my seismic magnitude reveal more about the heart of Mars and the formation of all rocky planets. »

In a series of three articles published in Science On the same day, new discoveries are made about the interior of the Red Planet. As the scientific journal reminds us, “ Inside a planet there are important clues about its origin and its thermal and dynamic evolution “In these studies, scientists.” Present the first discoveries of the internal structure of Mars based on data from NASA Insight Lander “These are the first direct observations of the structure of the crust, mantle and center on another rocky planet. It is also interesting to note that this information can be compared to what we know about Earth.

Crust, mantle, kernel

The key here is ” Surprises Those scientists were able to discover the interior of Mars thanks to Insight. Each of the published scientific articles Science Is interested in a separate layer.

• In its overview : It is thinner than expected and may have two or three sub-layers (thickness ranging from 24 to 72 km),
• On his coat : It is a single layer 1,560 km thick, simpler than Earth,
• At its center : It’s larger than expected, has a circumference of 1830 km, and has melted (by comparison, Earth’s outer core has melted, its inner core is solid, and it remains to be seen if this is true for Mars).

It took For two years Measure this data. This delay is particularly interesting when one thinks of the embryo, and the time taken to measure the size of the Moon (40 years after the Apollo missions) and the size of the Earth (hundreds of years).

Scientists are still waiting for the “big one”

And Rovers like diligence or curiosity They have the advantage of being able to go (slowly) to explore many areas, and the study of Mars can only be defined on its surface. With the arrival of Insight on Mars in 2018, and thanks to the recorded data of the machine’s seismic measurement (SEIS, for seismic testing for interior architecture), we were able for the first time to obtain components from the interior of Mars. To date, Insight has been able to detect seismic measurements 733 Tremor of Mars. 35 of them were used in three new studies.

« These results provide a preliminary structure of Mars, which allows us to control the different theories that explain the chemistry and internal dynamics of the planet. », Can we study inside? Science. Scientists hope to stop another major earthquake – NASA speaks ” The The big one -, to learn more about the gut of Mars.

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