full Martian year. There likely are more quakes
occurring than the seismometer is registering;
interference from wind and other weather
conditions can mask the measurements.
And while no marsquakes with magnitudes
greater than 4 have been detected, that
doesn’t mean they aren’t occurring, according
to Banerdt.
Banerdt describes Mars as moderately active
from a seismic standpoint, more than the moon
but less than Earth. The findings are close to
initial predictions. The moon’s seismic activity is
known thanks to instruments left behind a half-
century ago by the Apollo astronauts.
“Knowledge of the level of seismic activity is
crucial for investigating the interior structure
and understanding Mars’ thermal and chemical
evolution,” Banerdt wrote in an overview article
in Nature Geoscience. The journal as well as
Nature Communications feature four papers
from the InSight team.
Other key findings: The first magnetic
measurements from the Martian surface show a
local magnetic field that’s 10 times stronger than
detected from orbit, and weather instruments
have found a surprisingly dynamic atmosphere
around the spacecraft.
While the French seismometer is exceeding
expectations, a German-built probe has had
trouble burrowing into Mars, barely penetrating
a couple feet (50 centimeters). Scientists have
not yet given up on the mechanical mole, which
keeps popping out of the ground.
The mole was supposed to bury 16 feet (5
meters) into Mars to measure the planet’s
internal temperature.