1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren boge obamb here. Ever, since NASA's 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Inside mission placed its dome shape sizemometer onto the dusty 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: Martian surface in December, hopes were high that the robotic 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: lander would quickly detect its first Martian quake or Mars quake. Well, 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: the weight is finally over. The mission Seismic Experiment for 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: Interior Structure or SIZE, confirmed its first faint rumble coming 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: from the inside of the red planet on April six, 9 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: confirming that Mars is seismically active. SIZE team lead Philip 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: Lognan said in a NASA's statement, We've been waiting for 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: months for a signal like this. It's so exciting to 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,279 Speaker 1: finally have proof that Mars is still seizemically active. We're 13 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: looking forward to sharing detailed results once we've had a 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: chance to analyze them. NASA hopes to use seismic signals 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: like these to give Mars a health check of sorts, 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: like a doctor placing a stethoscope on their patient's chest. 17 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: Inside is doing something similar. It's trying to hear what 18 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: makes the planet tick. On Earth. The cacophony of seismic 19 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: signals bouncing around our planet's interior become distorted as they 20 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: encounter regions of different densities. By measuring these seismic waves, 21 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: we've learned about the different unreachable layers deep inside our planet. 22 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: Mars's interior is something of an enigma. The planet doesn't 23 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: have a global magnetic field for reasons we have yet 24 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: to fully understand, and its volcanic activity was extinguished hundreds 25 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: of billions of years ago. If the planet is geologically 26 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: or more accurate, areologically dead? How can it produce Mars 27 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: quakes at all? It's thought that as the planet continues 28 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: to cool, it's shrinking and crack leg with small quakes 29 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: that echo throughout the Martian interior. Mission scientists also want 30 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: to listen out for meteorite impacts will produce their own 31 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: mini trembles, perhaps turning Insight into a real time meteorite detector. 32 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: Until now, Mars quakes were theoretical possibility, but now that 33 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: we know that they're there, they can be used by 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: Insight to understand what lies beneath the planet's surface. According 35 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: to mission scientists, this first Mars is a pip squeak, 36 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: nothing like the tremors you're used to if you've ever 37 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: lived in southern California. On Mars, however, this weak quake 38 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: stands out in the comparative silence of Mars's quiet innards. 39 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: Other weaker seismic signals have also been heard over the 40 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: past month or so, but their origins are more ambiguous. 41 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: Although the April sixth event was too weak to be 42 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: used to gain much information about the Martian interior, scientists 43 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: are excited as we've seen something like it before on 44 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: the Moon. During the Apollo program, astronauts placed five seizemometers 45 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: on the lunar surface, which detected thousands of moonquakes between 46 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine and nineteen seventy seven. These seismic waves 47 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: helped scientists learn about the lunar interior and even helped 48 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: model its formation. Although inside is just one seizemometer on Mars, 49 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: scientists hope that it will give us a window into 50 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: the mysterious Martian interior that we know so little about. 51 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Ian O'Neil and produced by 52 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production I Heart Radio's 53 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works from on this and lots of other 54 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: earth shaking topics. Visit our home planet, how stuff Works 55 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: dot com and for more podcasts. For my heart Radio, 56 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 57 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.