Your hands on the hardware

What’s moving beneath Mars?

A still-looking landscape can have a story underneath. Explore the signals and learn why scientists compare vibrations carefully.

Illustrative learning tools · not live spacecraft controls

NASA Discovery Program #12 · Living Artifact Command Station2018-042A · SATCAT 43457

InSight Mars Lander (2018–2022)

Homestead Hollow, Elysium Planitia · 4.5024° N, 135.6234° E · 1,319 Marsquakes Detected

Surface Mission Duration

1,440 Sols (1,480 Days)

Dec 21, 2022 Formal Conclusion

Geophysical Triangulation Engine

Act as Mars Seismologist

Primary compressional waves (P-waves, v_P ≈ 7.3 km/s) race ahead through the mantle. Slower shear waves (S-waves, v_S ≈ 4.1 km/s) follow behind. Slide the calipers below to measure the time delay Δt = t_S - t_Pand compute the quake's distance across Mars!

Authentic Travel-Time Formula:

d ≈ Δt × [ (v_P · v_S) / (v_P - v_S) ] = Δt × 9.35 km/s

Every 100 seconds between P and S arrivals equals ~935 km across the surface of Mars.

Select One of the 6 Landmark Quakes

S1222a — Sent Rayleigh (R1, R2) and Love (G1) surface waves circling all the way around the entire Martian globe.

The Monster Quake: shook Mars continuously for over 6 hours with 5x more energy than any prior quake.

True Distance: 2200 km (37°)Azimuth: 101° (SE)Duration: 360 min

SEIS VBB Seismogram Calipers (Station XB.ELYSE)

Drag the P-Arrival and S-Arrival sliders to match the wave phase onsets.

P-Wave (30s)

S-Wave (265s)

P-Wave Arrival Time30 seconds

S-Wave Arrival Time265 seconds

Live Triangulation Result

Δt = 235s ➔ Calculated Distance: 2197 km (37.1°)

NASA Catalog True Distance: 2200 km

Accuracy100%

Authentic Mars Audio Soundboard

Listen to real vibrations sensed by SEIS on the Martian surface, sped up into human-audible frequencies.