The new Insight lander has to decipher billions of years of planetary evolution. Insight is a really ambitious project, by so many standards. Xenogeology, the study of geology on other worlds, is literally at the fetal stage. Before now, the Moon was the sum total of available materials in this field. This is the original, first candy store for geologists, a world that really is unique.
They’re both “rocky planets”, that not very useful definition, but spot the differences. What happens when materials are exposed to hard radiation for billions of years? What new compounds, new chemical processes, etc., are possible?
During a prelaunch briefing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Tom Hoffman, InSight Project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speaks to members of the media.
NASA/Cory Huston
If you’re somehow getting the impression there’s a lot to learn, that’s just the obvious. The usual story with any type of research is that you discover things you’ve never seen before, and have to explain them, too. It’s why researchers are such driven people.
That said – Give a researcher a whole new planet to play with, and you have the makings of a lot of new science. Insight will be a truly ground breaking event for geology, across the entire spectrum of the science. You’d have to have rocks in your head to not appreciate this fabulous project.
Insight is due to land in November, only six months away. Just look out for hordes of stampeding geologists when it lands.
