12th May 2022 (10 Topics)
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What is a ‘marsquake’, and what causes it?
Context
NASA's InSight lander has recently detected a quake on Mars, the largest ever observed on another planet.
About
About Marsquake:
- The InSight rover first landed on Mars in November 2018, and has since heard 1,313 quakes.
- A magnitude 5 quake shook the surface of Mars, the strongest temblor ever detected not only on Mars but on any planet besides Earth.
- The marsquake surpassed the previous record-holder, a 4.2-magnitude quake that took place in August 2021.
- On Earth, quakes are caused by shifts in tectonic plates. Mars, however, does not have tectonic plates, and its crust is a giant plate.
- Therefore, NASA notes, ‘marsquakes’ are caused due to stresses that cause rock fractures or faults in its crust.
About InSight rover:
- InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), is a Mars lander which is the first robotic explorer to study the crust, mantle and core of Mars.
- The InSight rover has two primary science objectives:
- to understand the formation and evolution of the terrestrial planet by investigating the interior structure and processes of Mars and
- to determine the present level of tectonic activity and meteorite impact rate on the planet
- Apart from helping learn how Mars was formed, understanding its patterns will also help prepare for human exploration of the planet.
- It uses its instruments to dig deep beneath the surface of the red planet and seek the ‘fingerprints’ of the process that formed the planet.
- To do this, it measures the planet’s “vital signs”: seismology, heat flow and precision tracking.
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