InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a NASA Discovery Program mission that will place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior. This mission is planned to be launched in March 2016, with first data expected by the end of the year. Meteorological sensors onboard the lander will provide a continuous dataset of pressure, air temperature and wind speed and direction. The unprecedented sensitivity of the pressure sensor should allow catching signatures of infrasound sources (dust devils, bolides, etc.). In this presentation, we will show how acoustic waves propagates in the atmosphere of Mars, not only much more tenuous (~ 6 mbar) than the Earth atmosphere but also CO2-rich and extremely windy. We will also investigate how the internal structure of Mars impacts the coupling mechanisms between infrasound sources and the planet surface. These are potential external sources that could excite seismic waves to be sensed by the Insight seismometer SEIS and thus illuminating the interior of the planet.
- Presentation