Marsquakes’ mission successfully lands on Red Planet

A mission to Mars which carries instruments co-designed by Oxford scientists, has successfully landed and will soon begin the first study of the heart of the planet. The NASA InSight mission landed shortly after 19:50 GMT on Monday, 26 November. InSight will study the inside of Mars to learn how planets, moons and meteorites with rocky surfaces, including the Earth and its Moon, formed. The lander's instruments include a seismometer to detect 'Marsquakes' and a probe to monitor the flow of heat beneath the surface of the planet. Scientists from Oxford's Department of Physics have been key to supporting one of the main instruments onboard: the short period Seismometer (SEIS-SP). This will be placed on the surface of Mars to detect seismic waves from Marsquakes and meteorite impacts. The SP seismometer development was led by Professor Tom Pike from Imperial College London.