This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science. I'm Steve Mursky.

Absolutely spectacular mission and it's not a rover, it's a lander.

It's designed to land and deploy several instruments.

Jim Green, NASA's new chief scientist, talking about the Insight Mission to Mars.

Insight launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California the morning of May 5th.

He spoke with Scientific American Space Editor Lee Billings who recorded their conversation. One instrument will be set on the surface and it will, you know, measure Marsquakes.

Now, why are Marsquakes important?

Well, Marsquakes, because we can get the acoustic signals and see how they are displayed in time,

we can tease out the size of the core even if it's liquid or not the size of

the mantle and the crust and compare those with with the big terrestrial planet

Earth that we know a lot about its interior.

And this will really help us understand how terrestrial planets are made.

Green was Ness's Planetary Science Division Director since since 2006 before taking on his

current assignment just last week. Back to the Insight mission. But in general,

it also has a human exploration part to it

uh... for instance uh... we know mars is quicking we have

seen with mars reconnaissance orbiter

from orbit aval Adelanches.

And so something is going on, and it's shaken the planet.

And this is really exciting because if humans go to Mars in our lifetime, which I anticipate they will, they're going to need

to build structures.

Those structures have got to be able to understand the environment and be safe.

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