On April 6,NASA ’s InSightlander recorded a faint shudder that appeared to develop from the Interior Department of Mars . If this is reassert , it would be the first - ever " Marsquake " recorded on the Red Planet . Scientists are still test the signals so they can be absolutely certain of the microseism ’s extraction .

The signaling was record by the lander ’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure ( SEIS ) and while it is not powerful enough to serve researcher poke into the interior of the Red Planet , it shows that Mars is still combat-ready . SEIS has the fortune to learn a pot about what lies beneath the lander .

" InSight ’s first readings hold on the science that get with NASA ’s Apollo mission , " InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory order in astatement . " We ’ve been pile up background noise up until now , but this first issue officially kicks off a new field : Martian seismology ! "

The connection to the Apollo mission is an authoritative one . Apollo astronauts left several seismographers on the Moon , which showed that our innate satellite is seismically active . The web was operated until 1977 and recorded28 Moonquakeswith magnitude as high as 5.5 on the Richter scale . Thanks to these , scientists were able to rise a accurate idea of what a typical Moonquake looks like . And the signaling coming from InSight is remarkably similar . That ’s what got the team excited .

" We ’ve been hold back month for a signal like this , " say Philippe Lognonné , SEIS squad lead at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris ( IPGP ) in France . " It ’s so exciting to eventually have test copy that Mars is still seismically alive . We ’re looking forward to sharing detailed solvent once we ’ve had a chance to analyze them . "

The likely Marsquake is not the only signaling recorded by InSight . Three other event were registered onMarch 14 , April 10 , and April 11 . These were too weak to be considered quakes and their origins were very ambiguous , but there will still be follow - up report to help us understand how they arise . These microquakes can help us find out what the gall near the lander is like , and how it is changing .

SEIS is not the first seismographer on Mars . The Viking lander also had seismometers but they were positioned on the landers and were affected by the Martian wind . SEIS is settle on the earth away from InSight ’s main body and is shielded as much as possible from extreme temperature changes and wind . Despite being out in the element , alternatively of thick in a lab like it was on Earth , the musical instrument has exceeded the squad ’s expectation in term of sensibility .