NASA detects likely tremor on Mars
NASA’s robotic probe InSight has detected and measured what scientists believe to be a “marsquake”, marking the first time a likely seismological tremor has been recorded on another planet, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Michelle Hennessy reports.
That rumbling is being called a ‘Mars-quake.’
For the first time ever, scientists believe they’ve recorded likely tremors on a distant planet.
It was picked up five months after NASA’s InSight touched down on the red planet, for its two-year mission.
The robot spacecraft – seen here in this NASA animation – was designed specifically to study the deep interior of a distant world.
And scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab in California believe the quake came from inside the planet.
While further tests are needed to prove that – it’s the most concrete evidence yet, of seismic signals being recorded outside Earth.
The scientists believe it was roughly equal to a mere 2.5 magnitude quake back home.
Mars doesn’t have tectonic plates – these tremors are caused by a cooling and contracting effect, that build enough energy to rupture the crust.
The InSight’s main investigator said it officially launches a whole new field… called ‘Martian Seismology.’ – Reuters
