{"id":7223,"date":"2018-11-30T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T13:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expleo.com\/?post_type=case-studies&p=14660"},"modified":"2023-08-25T14:12:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T14:12:51","slug":"seis","status":"publish","type":"case-studies","link":"https:\/\/expleo.com\/global\/en\/case-studies\/seis\/","title":{"rendered":"SEIS – Looking for vital signs on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Context & challenge<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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To really understand the health and well-being of a planet, you need to get under its skin \u2013 literally. That\u2019s the mission for NASA\u2019s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) programme, which aims to study the \u2018Inner Space\u2019 of Mars. By sending a robotic explorer to probe the planet\u2019s crust, mantle, and core, we can learn fascinating insights about how rocky planets were formed and have evolved over the last few billion years.<\/p>

Pretty cool, right? No wonder our\u00a0space<\/a>\u00a0experts wanted to get involved\u2026<\/p>

InSight\u2019s lander arrived on the Red Planet in November 2018. It will use cutting-edge instruments to delve deep beneath the surface and seek the fingerprints of the processes that formed the terrestrial planets. In particular, science aims to learn a lot about the planet\u2019s tectonic activity and meteorite impacts.<\/p>

InSight will measure the planet\u2019s \u201cvital signs\u201d: its \u201cpulse\u201d (seismology), \u201ctemperature\u201d (heat flow), and \u201creflexes\u201d (precision tracking). That\u2019s where we come in to this remarkable story. Our client CNES (National Centre for Space Studies), based in Toulouse, France, is in charge of measuring the seismic activity of Mars with the science community involved in SEIS instrument development.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Solution & outcomes\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We\u2019ve helped the Centre\u2019s team to build a 30kg, dome-shaped seismometer called SEIS (SeismicExperiment for Interior Structures). After its 205-day journey, reaching speeds of 10,000km\/h, SEIS will measure the pulse of Mars by studying waves created by marsquakes, thumps of meteorite impacts, and even surface vibrations generated by activity in Mars\u2019 atmosphere and by weather phenomena such as dust storms.<\/p>\n

Our role is to help our client to integrate and test all SEIS models including the flight model, perform tests and qualifications in thermal and vacuum environment, vibrations and shocks, couplings, performances; and then realistically anticipate the actual conditions of deployment and operation of the seismometer.<\/p>


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How did we do this?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Our support included:<\/p>