摘要
北京时间2018年5月5日晚20：05（7：05 EDT）,美国国家航空航天局（NASA）＂洞察号（Insight）＂火星探测器搭乘＂宇宙神＂V-401型火箭从位于加州中部的范登堡空军基地发射升空.目前探测器正在飞往火星的旅途中,并计划在2018年11月26日着陆在火星埃律西昂平原（Elysium Plain）
As Mars exploration has increasingly become a hotspot in international deep space missions, NASA’s （National Aeronautics and Space Administration） first Mars internal probe, ＂Insight＂, successfully launched on the Cosmos-5 rocket in May this year, is scheduled to land on 26th November, 2018, in the western region of the Elysium Plain on Mars . The scientific goal of this mission is to monitor Mars’ earthquake and obtain information on geological structure and underground heat transfer of Mars. With a timescale as two years, the probe aims to investigate the deep interior of Mars. The mission is part of the NASA Discovery program. The Insight probe is similar in design to the Mars lander that was used by Phoenix mission to study ground ice near the north pole of Mars successfully in 2007. The probe carries a seismic experiment for interior structure （SEIS）, provided by the French Space Agency （CNES）, the heat flow and physical properties package （HP^3）, provided by the German Space Agency （DLR）, with the mission to obtain first-hand internal data on the thermal flow measurements of Mars, as well as the rotation and interior structure experiment （RISE）, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory （JPL）. RISE will use the spacecraft communication system to provide precise information of planetary rotation, along with a set of instruments to monitor the environment （pressure, wind, air and ground temperature, magnetic fields） to interpret extremely sensitive seismic data better. The Insight probe will be used to investigate geological structure, temperature inside Mars, seismicity and so on by using efficient measuring instruments and scientific method of measurement. These professional equipment on Insight is beneficial to a better understanding of the size, density, thickness of the Martian core, mantle and crust for scientists. Due to the fact that the interior plate activity of Mars is inactive over the past 4.5 billion years, this red rocky planet has recorded a relatively complete history since it was born. This mission means that Mars probe helps people to have an in-depth understanding of the geological structure of Mars from inside to outside for the first time. The mission to Mars is of inspiration to study the evolutionary formation of rocky terrestrial planets, including the Earth. At the same time, China’s Mars exploration mission is also actively advancing. China has been preparing for the ＂Round-Landing-Rover＂ joint exploration by 2020, which will be unprecedented in the history of international Mars exploration, according to chief designer of China’s Mars exploration mission. In the future, no longer limited to the observations and surface patrols of planetary orbits, the exploration for terrestrial planets will actually enter the interior world of the planets, get out of the shape of the shape, boost the early stages of rational exploration, and explore the past, the present and the future of the planets.
作者
季江徽
黄秀敏
Jianghui Ji;Xiumin Huang(CAS Key Laboratory of Planetary Science,Purple Mountain Observatory,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Nanjing 210008,China;School of Astronomy and Space Sciences,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei 230026,China)
出处
《科学通报》
EI
CAS
CSCD
北大核心
2018年第26期2678-2685,共8页
Chinese Science Bulletin
基金
国家自然科学基金(11473073
11661161013)
中国科学院创新交叉团队项目
紫金山天文台小行星基金会项目资助
