The InSight lander mission ended last year, but its data reveals some surprises about Mars, including the fact that the planet is rotating faster every year.
We’re constantly learning more about the other planets in our solar system, especially Mars thanks to the multiple missions currently active there. But even retired missions can provide data for years after they have concluded, as is the case with a recent study that used data from the InSight lander.
The researchers used an instrument on InSight called RISE, or the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, which reflects radio waves sent by NASA’s Deep Space Network. By measuring how the frequency of this reflected signal changes by tiny amounts, the researchers could accurately measure how fast the planet is rotating.
Recommended Videos They found that the planet is spinning ever so slightly faster each year, corresponding to a reduction in the length of a Martian day by a fraction of a millisecond per year. It took very careful measurements to be able to see this small difference, taken over a period of 900 Martian days.
This effect is small, and scientists are still discussing what the cause could be. One theory is that the caps of ice found at Mars’s poles could be melting or growing, which would change the distribution of mass on the planet. Another finding from the data is that Mars’s core, which is liquid, is sloshing around in a way that allows for more accurate measurement of the core’s size. The latest measurement is that the core’s radius is between 1,112 and 1,150 miles.
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