2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Alignment of the position of the seismometer relative to the surface of Mars.
The InSight mission team almost completely prepared the SEIS seismograph installed in mid-December 2018 on the surface of the Red Planet. The specialists checked the functionality of the sensors and adjusted the position of the seismograph and the length of the loop connecting it to the station. All processes were monitored by two cameras mounted on the landing platform and its robotic arm, according to a blog post on the Planetary Society website.
The launch of the InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) took place on May 5, 2018. Its main task is to study the internal structure of Mars and the geological processes taking place in its bowels. Landing on the surface of the Red Planet took place on November 26, 2018 in the Elysium Highlands. The scientific load of the apparatus consists of several instruments, two cameras, a weather sensor and a corner reflector.
After landing, the station successfully deployed its solar panels and transmitted images to Earth, thanks to which it became clear that the landing platform had landed in a small impact crater covered with sand and dust, and was slightly tilted to the side. Over the past two weeks, the engineers of the mission managed to check the operability of the devices and activated the 2, 4-meter robotic arm IDA (Instrument Deployment Arm). An IDC (Instrument Deployment Camera) camera is attached to the arm, thanks to which the researchers conducted a visual inspection of the landing platform and took selfies, as well as surveyed the work area on the ground next to the station, measuring four by two meters, which is designed to accommodate the two main scientific instruments of the mission - seismograph SEIS and electromechanical drill HP3, designed to measure heat fluxes in the Martian soil. On December 19, SEIS was carefully placed on the ground in front of the landing platform, about 1.6 meters from the station.
The moment the plume was dropped onto the surface of the Red Planet.
The moment of introduction to work LSA (Load Shunt Assembly).
Between mid-December and early January, the mission team aligned the seismograph with the surface of Mars. The first data obtained by the instrument showed that the noise level in the signals from short-period sensors was significantly reduced. Then the engineers put into operation and adjusted three VBB (Very Broad Band) broadband sensors, which are pendulums that move almost without friction, and then began to eliminate the noise created by the loop connecting the instrument to the station. First, they dropped the plume on the surface, eliminating possible interference from it, and then began to put into operation the LSA (Load Shunt Assembly) element so that the seismograph was not affected by the thermal expansion and contraction of the plume. The mission engineers are now busy with the maximum lowering of the bottom of the seismograph above the surface, as well as the final adjustment of the length of the trail. All of these operations are expected to be completed by January 20, and a windshield will be installed over SEIS.
You can read about how the InSight scientific instruments will work and other details of the mission in our material "Look inside the Red Planet", and about the mysteries of Martian geology, you can read about the mysteries of Martian geology in our other article "Seismograph for Mars".
