6 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Mars](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-pia26518-hirise-views-an-impact-crater-matched-to-insights-seismic-data.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nCaptured by the HiRISE camera on NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 4, 2021, this impact crater was found in Cerberus Fossae, a seismically active region of the Red Planet. Scientists matched its appearance on the surface with a quake detected by NASA\u2019s InSight lander.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWith help from AI, scientists discovered a fresh crater made by an impact that shook material as deep as the Red Planet\u2019s mantle.<\/em><\/p>\nMeteoroids striking Mars produce seismic signals that can reach deeper into the planet than previously known. That\u2019s the finding of a pair of new papers comparing marsquake data collected by NASA\u2019s InSight lander with impact craters spotted by the agency\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).<\/p>\n
The papers<\/a>, published<\/a> on Monday, Feb. 3, in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), highlight how scientists continue to learn from InSight<\/a>, which NASA retired in 2022<\/a> after a successful extended mission. InSight set the first seismometer on Mars<\/a>, detecting more than 1,300 marsquakes, which are produced by shaking deep inside the planet (caused by rocks cracking under heat and pressure) and by space rocks striking the surface.<\/p>\nBy observing how seismic waves from those quakes change as they travel through the planet\u2019s crust, mantle, and core, scientists get a glimpse into Mars\u2019 interior, as well as a better understanding of how all rocky worlds form, including Earth and its Moon.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"NASA\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/e1-pia22959-insight-seismometer.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nA camera on the robotic arm of NASA\u2019s InSight captured the lander setting down its Wind and Thermal Shield on Feb. 2, 2019. The shield covered InSight\u2019s seismometer, which captured data from more than 1,300 marsquakes over the lander\u2019s four-year mission.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nResearchers have in the past taken images of new impact craters<\/a> and found seismic data that matches the date and location of the craters\u2019 formation. But the two new studies represent the first time a fresh impact has been correlated with shaking detected in Cerberus Fossae, an especially quake-prone region of Mars that is 1,019 miles (1,640 kilometers) from InSight.<\/p>\nThe impact crater is 71 feet (21.5 meters) in diameter and much farther from InSight than scientists expected, based on the quake\u2019s seismic energy. The Martian crust has unique properties thought to dampen seismic waves produced by impacts, and researchers\u2019 analysis of the Cerberus Fossae impact led them to conclude that the waves it produced took a more direct route through the planet\u2019s mantle.<\/p>\n
InSight\u2019s team will now have to reassess their models of the composition and structure of Mars\u2019 interior to explain how impact-generated seismic signals can go that deep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to think the energy detected from the vast majority of seismic events was stuck traveling within the Martian crust,\u201d said InSight team member Constantinos Charalambous of Imperial College London. \u201cThis finding shows a deeper, faster path \u2014 call it a seismic highway \u2014 through the mantle, allowing quakes to reach more distant regions of the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spotting Mars Craters With MRO<\/strong><\/h3>\nA machine learning algorithm<\/a> developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to detect meteoroid impacts on Mars played a key role in discovering the Cerberus Fossae crater. In a matter of hours, the artificial intelligence tool can sift through tens of thousands of black-and-white images captured by MRO<\/a>\u2019s Context Camera<\/a>, detecting the blast zones around craters. The tool selects candidate images for examination by scientists practiced at telling which subtle colorations on Mars deserve more detailed imaging by MRO\u2019s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE<\/a>) camera.<\/p>\n\u201cDone manually, this would be years of work,\u201d said InSight team member Valentin Bickel of the University of Bern in Switzerland. \u201cUsing this tool, we went from tens of thousands of images to just a handful in a matter of days. It\u2019s not quite as good as a human, but it\u2019s super fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bickel and his colleagues searched for craters within roughly 1,864 miles (3,000 kilometers) of InSight\u2019s location, hoping to find some that formed while the lander\u2019s seismometer was recording. By comparing before-and-after images from the Context Camera over a range of time, they found 123 fresh craters to cross-reference with InSight\u2019s data; 49 of those were potential matches with quakes detected by the lander\u2019s seismometer. Charalambous and other seismologists filtered that pool further to identify the 71-foot Cerberus Fossae impact crater.<\/p>\n
Deciphering<\/strong> More, Faster<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe more scientists study InSight\u2019s data, the better they become at distinguishing signals originating inside the planet from those caused by meteoroid strikes. The impact found in Cerberus Fossae will help them further refine how they tell these signals apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought Cerberus Fossae produced lots of high-frequency seismic signals associated with internally generated quakes, but this suggests some of the activity does not originate there and could actually be from impacts instead,\u201d Charalambous said.<\/p>\n
The findings also highlight how researchers are harnessing AI to improve planetary science by making better use of all the data gathered by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) missions. In addition to studying Martian craters, Bickel has used AI to search for landslides, dust devils, and seasonal dark features that appear on steep slopes, called slope streaks or recurring slope linae. AI tools have been used to find craters and landslides on Earth\u2019s Moon as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have so many images from the Moon and Mars that the struggle is to process and analyze the data,\u201d Bickel said. \u201cWe\u2019ve finally arrived in the big data era of planetary science.\u201d<\/p>\n
More About InSight<\/strong><\/h3>\nJPL managed InSight for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. InSight was part of NASA\u2019s Discovery Program, managed by the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supported spacecraft operations for the mission.<\/p>\n
A number of European partners, including France\u2019s Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), supported the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS<\/a>) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3<\/sup><\/a>) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain\u2019s Centro de Astrobiolog\u00eda (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.<\/p>\nA division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. The Context Camera was built by, and is operated by, Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more about Insight, visit:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/insight\/<\/a><\/p>\nFor more about MRO, visit: <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter\/<\/a><\/p>\nNews Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\nAndrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nKaren Fox \/ Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
|karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a>\u00a0\/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n2025-013<\/p>\n
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![\"Mars](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-pia26518-hirise-views-an-impact-crater-matched-to-insights-seismic-data.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>With help from AI, scientists discovered a fresh crater made by an impact that shook material as deep as the Red Planet\u2019s mantle.<\/em><\/p>\n Meteoroids striking Mars produce seismic signals that can reach deeper into the planet than previously known. That\u2019s the finding of a pair of new papers comparing marsquake data collected by NASA\u2019s InSight lander with impact craters spotted by the agency\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).<\/p>\n The papers<\/a>, published<\/a> on Monday, Feb. 3, in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), highlight how scientists continue to learn from InSight<\/a>, which NASA retired in 2022<\/a> after a successful extended mission. InSight set the first seismometer on Mars<\/a>, detecting more than 1,300 marsquakes, which are produced by shaking deep inside the planet (caused by rocks cracking under heat and pressure) and by space rocks striking the surface.<\/p>\n By observing how seismic waves from those quakes change as they travel through the planet\u2019s crust, mantle, and core, scientists get a glimpse into Mars\u2019 interior, as well as a better understanding of how all rocky worlds form, including Earth and its Moon.<\/p>\n Researchers have in the past taken images of new impact craters<\/a> and found seismic data that matches the date and location of the craters\u2019 formation. But the two new studies represent the first time a fresh impact has been correlated with shaking detected in Cerberus Fossae, an especially quake-prone region of Mars that is 1,019 miles (1,640 kilometers) from InSight.<\/p>\n The impact crater is 71 feet (21.5 meters) in diameter and much farther from InSight than scientists expected, based on the quake\u2019s seismic energy. The Martian crust has unique properties thought to dampen seismic waves produced by impacts, and researchers\u2019 analysis of the Cerberus Fossae impact led them to conclude that the waves it produced took a more direct route through the planet\u2019s mantle.<\/p>\n InSight\u2019s team will now have to reassess their models of the composition and structure of Mars\u2019 interior to explain how impact-generated seismic signals can go that deep.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used to think the energy detected from the vast majority of seismic events was stuck traveling within the Martian crust,\u201d said InSight team member Constantinos Charalambous of Imperial College London. \u201cThis finding shows a deeper, faster path \u2014 call it a seismic highway \u2014 through the mantle, allowing quakes to reach more distant regions of the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n A machine learning algorithm<\/a> developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to detect meteoroid impacts on Mars played a key role in discovering the Cerberus Fossae crater. In a matter of hours, the artificial intelligence tool can sift through tens of thousands of black-and-white images captured by MRO<\/a>\u2019s Context Camera<\/a>, detecting the blast zones around craters. The tool selects candidate images for examination by scientists practiced at telling which subtle colorations on Mars deserve more detailed imaging by MRO\u2019s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE<\/a>) camera.<\/p>\n \u201cDone manually, this would be years of work,\u201d said InSight team member Valentin Bickel of the University of Bern in Switzerland. \u201cUsing this tool, we went from tens of thousands of images to just a handful in a matter of days. It\u2019s not quite as good as a human, but it\u2019s super fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Bickel and his colleagues searched for craters within roughly 1,864 miles (3,000 kilometers) of InSight\u2019s location, hoping to find some that formed while the lander\u2019s seismometer was recording. By comparing before-and-after images from the Context Camera over a range of time, they found 123 fresh craters to cross-reference with InSight\u2019s data; 49 of those were potential matches with quakes detected by the lander\u2019s seismometer. Charalambous and other seismologists filtered that pool further to identify the 71-foot Cerberus Fossae impact crater.<\/p>\n The more scientists study InSight\u2019s data, the better they become at distinguishing signals originating inside the planet from those caused by meteoroid strikes. The impact found in Cerberus Fossae will help them further refine how they tell these signals apart.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought Cerberus Fossae produced lots of high-frequency seismic signals associated with internally generated quakes, but this suggests some of the activity does not originate there and could actually be from impacts instead,\u201d Charalambous said.<\/p>\n The findings also highlight how researchers are harnessing AI to improve planetary science by making better use of all the data gathered by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) missions. In addition to studying Martian craters, Bickel has used AI to search for landslides, dust devils, and seasonal dark features that appear on steep slopes, called slope streaks or recurring slope linae. AI tools have been used to find craters and landslides on Earth\u2019s Moon as well.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we have so many images from the Moon and Mars that the struggle is to process and analyze the data,\u201d Bickel said. \u201cWe\u2019ve finally arrived in the big data era of planetary science.\u201d<\/p>\n JPL managed InSight for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. InSight was part of NASA\u2019s Discovery Program, managed by the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supported spacecraft operations for the mission.<\/p>\n A number of European partners, including France\u2019s Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), supported the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS<\/a>) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3<\/sup><\/a>) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain\u2019s Centro de Astrobiolog\u00eda (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.<\/p>\n A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. The Context Camera was built by, and is operated by, Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n For more about Insight, visit:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/insight\/<\/a><\/p>\n For more about MRO, visit: <\/p>\n<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter\/<\/a><\/p>\n Andrew Good Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser 2025-013<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>Spotting Mars Craters With MRO<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Deciphering<\/strong> More, Faster<\/strong><\/h3>\n
More About InSight<\/strong><\/h3>\n
News Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
|karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a>\u00a0\/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n