WEBVTT - What Can Marsquakes Teach Us?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren boge obamb here. Ever, since NASA's

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<v Speaker 1>Inside mission placed its dome shape sizemometer onto the dusty

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<v Speaker 1>Martian surface in December, hopes were high that the robotic

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<v Speaker 1>lander would quickly detect its first Martian quake or Mars quake. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>the weight is finally over. The mission Seismic Experiment for

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<v Speaker 1>Interior Structure or SIZE, confirmed its first faint rumble coming

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<v Speaker 1>from the inside of the red planet on April six,

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<v Speaker 1>confirming that Mars is seismically active. SIZE team lead Philip

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<v Speaker 1>Lognan said in a NASA's statement, We've been waiting for

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<v Speaker 1>months for a signal like this. It's so exciting to

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<v Speaker 1>finally have proof that Mars is still seizemically active. We're

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<v Speaker 1>looking forward to sharing detailed results once we've had a

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<v Speaker 1>chance to analyze them. NASA hopes to use seismic signals

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<v Speaker 1>like these to give Mars a health check of sorts,

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<v Speaker 1>like a doctor placing a stethoscope on their patient's chest.

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<v Speaker 1>Inside is doing something similar. It's trying to hear what

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<v Speaker 1>makes the planet tick. On Earth. The cacophony of seismic

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<v Speaker 1>signals bouncing around our planet's interior become distorted as they

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<v Speaker 1>encounter regions of different densities. By measuring these seismic waves,

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<v Speaker 1>we've learned about the different unreachable layers deep inside our planet.

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<v Speaker 1>Mars's interior is something of an enigma. The planet doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have a global magnetic field for reasons we have yet

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<v Speaker 1>to fully understand, and its volcanic activity was extinguished hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of billions of years ago. If the planet is geologically

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<v Speaker 1>or more accurate, areologically dead? How can it produce Mars

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<v Speaker 1>quakes at all? It's thought that as the planet continues

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<v Speaker 1>to cool, it's shrinking and crack leg with small quakes

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<v Speaker 1>that echo throughout the Martian interior. Mission scientists also want

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<v Speaker 1>to listen out for meteorite impacts will produce their own

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<v Speaker 1>mini trembles, perhaps turning Insight into a real time meteorite detector.

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<v Speaker 1>Until now, Mars quakes were theoretical possibility, but now that

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<v Speaker 1>we know that they're there, they can be used by

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<v Speaker 1>Insight to understand what lies beneath the planet's surface. According

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<v Speaker 1>to mission scientists, this first Mars is a pip squeak,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing like the tremors you're used to if you've ever

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<v Speaker 1>lived in southern California. On Mars, however, this weak quake

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<v Speaker 1>stands out in the comparative silence of Mars's quiet innards.

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<v Speaker 1>Other weaker seismic signals have also been heard over the

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<v Speaker 1>past month or so, but their origins are more ambiguous.

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<v Speaker 1>Although the April sixth event was too weak to be

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<v Speaker 1>used to gain much information about the Martian interior, scientists

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<v Speaker 1>are excited as we've seen something like it before on

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon. During the Apollo program, astronauts placed five seizemometers

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<v Speaker 1>on the lunar surface, which detected thousands of moonquakes between

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty nine and nineteen seventy seven. These seismic waves

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<v Speaker 1>helped scientists learn about the lunar interior and even helped

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<v Speaker 1>model its formation. Although inside is just one seizemometer on Mars,

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<v Speaker 1>scientists hope that it will give us a window into

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<v Speaker 1>the mysterious Martian interior that we know so little about.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Ian O'Neil and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production I Heart Radio's

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works from on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>earth shaking topics. Visit our home planet, how stuff Works

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