Based on the data released by the NAS officials, the spacecraft known as the InSight Lander has a total mass of 50 kg, including science instruments and support systems like the Auxiliary Payload Sensor Suite, cameras, the instrument deployment system, and a laser retroreflector. The two main instruments found in the science payload are; the SEIS and HP3.
The SEIS stands for ‘’ Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure’’ it is an instrument that will take precise measurements of Marsquakes and other internal activity on Mars to better understand the planet’s history and structure. Besides the intended function, it will also investigate how the Martian crust and mantle respond to the effects of meteorite impacts, which gives clues to the planet’s inner structure.
SEIS was made available by the French Space Agency (CNES), with the participation of the Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Imperial College, Institut Superieur de I’aeronautique et de I’espace (ISAE) and JPL.
The instrument will also detect sources including atmospheric waves and gravimetric signals (tidal forces) from Mars’ moon Photos, up to high-frequency seismic waves of 50 Hz. SEIS was found to have a vacuum leak that could not be corrected in time for the 2016 launch.
SEIS as part of the spacecraft is supported by a suite of metrological tools to characterize atmospheric disturbances that might affect the experiment. These include a vector magnetometer provided by UCLA that will measure magnetic disturbances such as those caused by the Martian ionosphere; a suite of air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction sensors based on the Spanish/Finnish Rover Environmental Monitoring Station; and a barometer from JPL.
The next instrument found in the Insight is the HP3. It stands for “Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package” (HP3), provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), is a self-penetrating heat flow probe.
The instrument is referred to as the “self-hammering nail” and nicknamed “the mole”, it was designed to burrow as deep as 5m (16 ft.) below the Martian surface while trailing a tether with embedded heat sensors to measure how efficiently heat flows through Mars’ core, and help to reveal more details regarding the planet’s interior and how it evolved over time.
HP3 trails a tether containing precise temperature sensors every 10 cm (3.9 in) to measure the temperature profile of the subsurface. The tractor mole of the instrument was provided by a Polish company “Astronika”.
A radio experiment is known as the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), will use the InSight Lander‘s X band radio to provide precise measurements of planetary rotation to better understand the interior of Mars.
Though X band radio tracking with an accuracy under 2 cm was built on previous Viking program and Mars Pathfinder data. The previous data allowed the core size to be estimated, but with more data from the InSight, the nutation amplitude can be determined.
Once spin axis direction, precession, and nutation amplitudes are better understood, it should be possible to calculate the size and density of the Martian core and mantle. It is another effort that could help increase and understand the formation of terrestrial planets and rocky exoplanets.
The temperature and winds components for the InSight have the abbreviation of “TWINS”. The unit is fabricated by the Spanish Astrobiology Center and will monitor the weather at the landing site.
Another unit found in the spacecraft is the Laser RetroReflector for InSight (LaRRI). It is a corner cube retroreflector provided by the Italian Space Agency and mounted on InSight’s top deck. The unit will enable passive laser range-finding by orbiters even after the lander is retired, and would function as a node in a proposed Mars geophysical network.
The device was used on the Schiaparelli lander as the instrument for landing-Roving Laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI), and is an aluminum dome 54mm (2.1 in) in diameter and 25 g (0.9 oz.) in mass featuring eight fused silica reflectors.
A special robotic arm is known as the “instrument Deployment arm” (IDA) is a 2.4 m long robotic arm that will be used to deploy the SEIS and HP3 instruments to Mars’ surface. It features an IDC camera.
The IDC camera stands for “instrument deployment camera” (IDC). It is a color camera based on the Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory Navcam design. The camera is fixed on the robotic arm to image the instruments on the InSight Lander’s deck and provide stereoscopic views of the terrain surrounding the landing site.
The camera features a 45-degree field view and uses a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD detector. The sensor on it was originally black and white for best resolution; a program was enacted that tested with a standard Hazcam and later replaced with a color sensor.
Another camera found on the InSight Lander is the Instrument Context Camera (ICC). It is a color camera based on the MER/MSL Hazcam design.
It is mounted below the Lander’s desk, and its wide-angle 120-degree panoramic field of view will provide a complementary view of the instrument deployment area. Just like the IDC, it makes use of a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD detector.
Though X band radio tracking with an accuracy under 2 cm was built on previous Viking program and Mars Pathfinder data. The previous data allowed the core size to be estimated, but with more data from the InSight, the nutation amplitude can be determined.
Once spin axis direction, precession, and nutation amplitudes are better understood, it should be possible to calculate the size and density of the Martian core and mantle. It is another effort that could help increase and understand the formation of terrestrial planets and rocky exoplanets.
The temperature and winds components for the InSight have the abbreviation of “TWINS”. The unit is fabricated by the Spanish Astrobiology Center and will monitor the weather at the landing site.
Another unit found in the spacecraft is the Laser RetroReflector for InSight (LaRRI). It is a corner cube retroreflector provided by the Italian Space Agency and mounted on InSight’s top deck. The unit will enable passive laser range-finding by orbiters even after the lander is retired, and would function as a node in a proposed Mars geophysical network.
The device was used on the Schiaparelli lander as the instrument for landing-Roving Laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI), and is an aluminum dome 54mm (2.1 in) in diameter and 25 g (0.9 oz.) in mass featuring eight fused silica reflectors.
A special robotic arm is known as the “instrument Deployment arm” (IDA) is a 2.4 m long robotic arm that will be used to deploy the SEIS and HP3 instruments to Mars’ surface. It features an IDC camera.
The IDC camera stands for “instrument deployment camera” (IDC). It is a color camera based on the Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory Navcam design. The camera is fixed on the robotic arm to image the instruments on the InSight Lander’s deck and provide stereoscopic views of the terrain surrounding the landing site.
The camera features a 45-degree field view and uses a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD detector. The sensor on it was originally black and white for best resolution; a program was enacted that tested with a standard Hazcam and later replaced with a color sensor.
Another camera found on the InSight Lander is the Instrument Context Camera (ICC). It is a color camera based on the MER/MSL Hazcam design. It is mounted below the Lander’s desk, and its wide-angle 120-degree panoramic field of view will provide a complementary view of the instrument deployment area. Just like the IDC, it makes use of a 1024 x 1024 pixel CCD detector.
