First year of the Insight Mars mission, surprising scientific results

A new understanding of Mars is emerging in light of the first year of NASA’s InSight mission. Results described in a set of six papers published today, five in Nature Geoscience and one in Nature Communications, reveal a living planet that is the scene of earthquakes, dust devils and strange magnetic impulses.

Several CNRS laboratories including LMD (CNRS/ENS Paris/Ecole polytechnique/Sorbonne University), LPG (CNRS/University of Nantes/University of Angers), IRAP (CNRS/University of Toulouse/CNES), LGL-TPE (CNRS/Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1), The IMPMC (Sorbonne University/National Museum of Natural History/CNRS) and LAGRANGE (CNRS/Université Côte d’Azur/Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur) are participating with the IPGP and ISAE-SUPAERO in the analyses of the data from the InSight mission. These analyses are supported by the CNES and the National Research Agency (MAGIS project).

As a reminder, scientists from Toulouse were involved in the design and production of the proximity electronics of the French SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) seismometer, the main instrument of the mission.

Further Resources

• Scientific articles :
  • InSight at Mars, Nature GeoSciences
  • Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars,Nature Communication
• Press Releases:
  • SEIS sur Mars: les premiers résultats (SEIS InSight)
  • PREMIÈRE ANNÉE DE LA MISSION MARTIENNE INSIGHT, DES RÉSULTATS SCIENTIFIQUES SURPRENANTS (CNES)
  • InSight dévoile le sous-sol martien (CNRS Le Journal)
  • A Year of Surprising Science From NASA’s InSight Mars Mission (NASA)
  • Mars : d’où viennent les centaines de séismes détectés par InSight ? (Futura Sciences)

IRAP Contact

• Ludovic Margerin, ludovic.margerin@irap.omp.eu