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Editorial on: Topical Collection on InSight Mission to Mars

2017; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 211; Issue: 1-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s11214-017-0414-0

1572-9672

W. B. Banerdt, C. T. Russell,

Space exploration and regulation

Over the past twelve decades seismology has been one of our most important tools in understanding the Earth and its deep interior.So it is not surprising that the value of seismology in the exploration of extraterrestrial planets has been recognized since the dawn of the space age.The very first spacecraft that were sent by the United States in the early 1960s to land on the surface of another planet (Rangers 3-5, designed to survive impact on the Moon) carried rugged seismometers, and exquisitely sensitive seismic instruments were a key component of the scientific payloads brought to the Moon by the Apollo program.When Vikings 1 and 2 executed the first landings on Mars in 1976 they also carried seismometers (which, for various reasons, did not return much useful information).These were relatively modest instruments that were envisioned to be the vanguard of a more extensive network of seismometers that would probe the deep interior of the planet, revealing its structure and processes.So it is somewhat surprising that in the 40 years since the Viking landings there has not been another seismometer placed on the surface of any planet beyond the Earth.This is not for lack of trying.In the early 1990s a Mars Network Mission with a dozen seismic stations was a solid component of NASA's strategic plan for Mars exploration leading up to sample return.Later in the decade this mission was replaced in the planning process by MESUR (Mars Environmental SURvey) at NASA, supplemented by the proposed MarsNet, and later the InterMarsNet, projects at ESA. Together, these ambitious projects were to place 16-20 long-lived landers with seismometers and meteorological instrument packages on the surface of Mars, using 4-5 launches in the 2001-2003 time period.Mars Pathfinder was originally conceived as a development project for producing a low-cost lander for MESUR.But in 1996 cost pressures, combined with a new emphasis on the search for life on Mars, led to the delay and eventual cancellation of these seismic network missions.The Russian