Next month, NASA will launch the $814 million InSight lander to Mars, meant to peer inside the planet9s interior. InSight, which lands in late November, sports three instruments, including a seismometer that will detect "marsquakes." It marks a return to planetary seismology after 4 decades. By capturing quakes caused by the contraction of the planet9s crust, and hammering a heat probe down 5 meters below the surface, InSight should allow scientists to measure the thickness and composition of the planet9s crust, mantle, and core. Knowing those dimensions should reveal how the planet formed and how it lost its magnetic field, constraining a zoo of potential models.

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美国宇航局着陆器探测火星内部

下个月，美国宇航局将向火星发射价值 8.14 亿美元的洞察号着陆器，旨在窥视行星内部。洞察号于 11 月下旬登陆，搭载了三种仪器，包括一个可以检测“地震”的地震仪。它标志着 4 个十年后行星地震学的回归。通过捕捉由行星地壳收缩引起的地震，并在地表以下 5 米处敲击热探测器，洞察号应该能让科学家们测量行星地壳、地幔和地核的厚度和成分。了解这些维度应该可以揭示这颗行星是如何形成的，以及它是如何失去磁场的，从而限制了一个潜在模型的动物园。