[Bruce Banerdt] The basic idea
of InSight is to map out
the deep structure of Mars.
We know a lot about the
surface of Mars.
We know a lot about
its atmosphere
and even about
its ionosphere
but we don't know very much
about what goes on
a mile below the surface;
much less 2000 miles
below the surface
down to the center.
And, this will be the first
mission that's going to Mars
specifically to investigate
the deep inside of Mars.
[Tom Hoffman] We know that
the Earth is habitable.
We know that Mars is not.
There might be something
that we find out
in terms of the
structure of Mars
versus the
structure of Earth
that maybe can help us
understand why that is.
[Banerdt] InSight carries a
seismometer which measures the
seismic waves that have traveled
through Mars from marsquakes
and maps out to deep interior
structure of Mars.
[Hoffman] We're gonna also
have a Heat Flow and
Physical Properties Probe
which will penetrate
into the Mars surface
about five meters
or 16 feet
to take the
temperature of Mars.
[ Banerdt] And it has a radio
science experiment
which uses the radio
on the spacecraft
to measure small
variations in the wobble of
Mars's pole to understand more
about the structure
and composition
of the core.
[Jaime Singer] Insight will
be the first mission to
pick instruments up off
the deck of the lander
and place them on the
surface of Mars.
I like to say that we're
playing the "claw game" on Mars
with no joystick.
The seismometer needs to be
installed in one place and
basically not move in order to
get the best seismic data.
[Hoffman] We also have a
wind and thermal shield
that will then be
placed on top of that
seismometer to protect it
further from the environment.
[Singer] For the heat
flow probe, HP3,
it also needs to
sit in one place,
take a while
to hammer itself
down into the ground
and acquire the
thermal measurements
over a long period of time.
[Banerdt] Insight is a
mission to Mars but it's
much much more than
a Mars mission.
In some sense it's
like a time machine.
It's measuring the
structure of Mars
that was put in place 4 1/2
billion years ago
so we can go back and
understand the processes
that formed Mars just
shortly after it was accreted
from the solar nebula.
By studying Mars, we'll be able
to learn more about Earth,
Venus, Mercury, even the moon,
even exoplanets
around other stars.
 [Rocket fire]
[Text: InSight
Launching May 2018]
[LOGO: NASA / Jet Propulsion
Laboratory /
California Institute
of Technology]   
