InSight successfully left Earth on 5 May, setting off from California to Mars. The lander will travel 485 million kilometres over six months before it is expected to land on Mars on 26 November. The probe will take readings on Mars using various scientific instruments with the aim of enabling a better understanding of the formation and evolution of the Red Planet.
A key instrument on the NASA mission is the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures (SEIS), which was developed and built under the lead of France together with Germany, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. It will measure the frequency, origin and seismic waves of marsquakes. After landing on Mars, a robotic arm will position SEIS on the ground next to the lander and cover it with a protective shield.
Switzerland’s contribution to InSight was developed under the lead of researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich together with the electronics company SYDERAL SA from the canton of Bern, according to a statement. They developed the Seisometer Electronic Box, the power supply and control unit that supplies the sensors with power, receives their measurement data, temporarily stores them, processes them and holds them for transmission to the ground station. ETH researchers will also assist with analyzing the data from Mars.
“We’re very happy about the successful launch, because we’ve been working towards this moment for almost 20 years,” said Domenico Giardini, a professor of seismology and geophysics at ETH Zurich who is in charge of ETH’s side of the Mars mission. “If everything goes well, we may receive the first test data in early 2019. We’re extremely excited about this.”
