This document discusses planetary seismology and the InSight mission to Mars. The InSight mission, launching in 2016, will place seismometers on Mars to study marsquakes and learn about the planet's internal structure, composition, and processes of formation. Seismology uses earthquake wave data to characterize a planet's layers, core, and activity. The goals of InSight include determining the size of Mars' core, thickness of the crust, mantle composition, and rate of seismic and meteorite impacts. Studying other planets through seismology provides context for Earth and advances understanding of planetary formation processes.

1. Taking the pulse of the Red Planet:
Marsquakes and what they tell us
Jennifer Taylor
University of Bristol

2. What is seismology?
• It is the study of how energy from an
earthquake travels through the Earth
• It most affects people that live close to
tectonic plate boundaries
• It is used to help warn people of
tsunamis or impending volcanic
eruptions

3. How does it work?
• Earthquake waves
• Act like sonar
• Travel all through the Earth
• Allow you to peer deep into the planet
• Can tell you about the different layers
in the planet
• Different waves tell you different things
• Lots of industries use seismology

4. Earthquakes on other planets
• BIG PROBLEM: no data!
• (At least not yet…)
• Do they even happen?
• What might cause them?
• How different might they look?
• What will they tell us about the planet?
• We do have some data from the Moon
- The Apollo landers had
seismometers

5. Sources of quakes on other planets
• Tectonics
• Volcanoes
• Meteorite impacts
• Rock tides
• Landslides

6. What do they tell us?
• The structure of the planet
• The size of the core
• The different layers in the mantle
• The thickness of the crust
• The composition of the core and
mantle
• The processes of formation and
differentiation

7. NASA’s InSight Mission
http://areology.org/2012/08/29/newsflash/
• Due to launch in March 2016
• Due to arrive in Sept 2016
• Instruments:
• RISE
• HP3
• SEIS
• Will operate for 700 sols (720 days)
• UK team is working on the
microseismometer of the SEIS
package

8. Science goals
• Determine the size, composition and
physical state (liquid/solid) of the core
• Determine the thickness and structure of
the crust
• Determine the composition and structure
of the mantle
• Determine the thermal state of the interior
• Measure the magnitude, rate and
geographical distribution of internal
seismic activity
• Measure the rate of meteorite impacts on
the surface
R.I.S.E.
S.E.I.S
HP3

9. Why planetary seismology?
• It allows us to discover how other planets were made
• It puts the Earth in a broader solar-system wide context
• Understanding processes on other planets helps us understand our own
• There is a strong international collaboration – I am working with NASA & CNES (the French Space
Agency), as well as other European institutions
• You get to work on the frontier of scientific exploration
• Space missions develop cool technology (You wouldn’t have USB sticks today if it weren’t for the
Cassini mission to Titan!!)