Potential Effects of Surface Temperature Variations and Disturbances and Thermal Convection on the Mars InSight HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Heat-Flow Determination

The HP³ instrument on the InSight lander mission will measure subsurface temperatures and thermal conductivities from which heat flow in the upper few meters of the regolith at the landing site will be calculated. The parameter to be determined is steady-state conductive heat flow, but temperatures may have transient perturbations resulting from surface temperature changes and there could be a component of thermal convection associated with heat transport by vertical flow of atmospheric gases over the depth interval of measurement. The experiment is designed so that it should penetrate to a depth below which surface temperature perturbations are smaller than the required measurement precision by the time the measurements are made. However, if the measurements are delayed after landing, and/or the probe does not penetrate to the desired depth, corrections may be necessary for the transient perturbations. Thermal convection is calculated to be negligible, but these calculations are based on unknown physical properties of the Mars regolith. The effects of thermal convection should be apparent at shallow depths where transient thermal perturbations would be observed to deviate from conductive theory. These calculations were required during proposal review and their probability of predicting a successful measurement a prerequisite for mission approval. However, their uncertainties lies in unmeasured physical parameters of the Mars regolith.     

Extended Pile Driving Model to Predict the Penetration of the Insight/HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Mole into the Martian Soil

The NASA InSight mission will provide an opportunity for soil investigations using the penetration data of the heat flow probe built by the German Aerospace Center DLR. The Heat flow and Physical Properties Probe (HP³) will penetrate 3 to 5 meter into the Martian subsurface to investigate the planetary heat flow. The measurement of the penetration rate during the insertion of the HP³ will be used to determine the physical properties of the soil at the landing site. For this purpose, numerical simulations of the penetration process were performed to get a better understanding of the soil properties influencing the penetration performance of HP³. A pile driving model has been developed considering all masses of the hammering mechanism of HP³. By cumulative application of individual stroke cycles it is now able to describe the penetration of the Mole into the Martian soil as a function of time, assuming that the soil parameters of the material through which it penetrates are known. We are using calibrated materials similar to those expected to be encountered by the InSight/HP³ Mole when it will be operated on the surface of Mars after the landing of the InSight spacecraft. We consider various possible scenarios, among them a more or less homogeneous material down to a depth of 3–5 m as well as a layered ground, consisting of layers with different soil parameters. Finally we describe some experimental tests performed with the latest prototype of the InSight Mole at DLR Bremen and compare the measured penetration performance in sand with our modeling results. Furthermore, results from a 3D DEM simulation are presented to get a better understanding of the soil response.     

Geology and Physical Properties Investigations by the InSight Lander

Although not the prime focus of the InSight mission, the near-surface geology and physical properties investigations provide critical information for both placing the instruments (seismometer and heat flow probe with mole) on the surface and for understanding the nature of the shallow subsurface and its effect on recorded seismic waves. Two color cameras on the lander will obtain multiple stereo images of the surface and its interaction with the spacecraft. Images will be used to identify the geologic materials and features present, quantify their areal coverage, help determine the basic geologic evolution of the area, and provide ground truth for orbital remote sensing data. A radiometer will measure the hourly temperature of the surface in two spots, which will determine the thermal inertia of the surface materials present and their particle size and/or cohesion. Continuous measurements of wind speed and direction offer a unique opportunity to correlate dust devils and high winds with eolian changes imaged at the surface and to determine the threshold friction wind stress for grain motion on Mars. During the first two weeks after landing, these investigations will support the selection of instrument placement locations that are relatively smooth, flat, free of small rocks and load bearing. Soil mechanics parameters and elastic properties of near surface materials will be determined from mole penetration and thermal conductivity measurements from the surface to 3–5 m depth, the measurement of seismic waves during mole hammering, passive monitoring of seismic waves, and experiments with the arm and scoop of the lander (indentations, scraping and trenching). These investigations will determine and test the presence and mechanical properties of the expected 3–17 m thick fragmented regolith (and underlying fractured material) built up by impact and eolian processes on top of Hesperian lava flows and determine its seismic properties for the seismic investigation of Mars’ interior.     

Analysis of Regolith Properties Using Seismic Signals Generated by InSight’s HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Penetrator

InSight’s Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) provides a unique and unprecedented opportunity to conduct the first geotechnical survey of the Martian soil by taking advantage of the repeated seismic signals that will be generated by the mole of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³). Knowledge of the elastic properties of the Martian regolith have implications to material strength and can constrain models of water content, and provide context to geological processes and history that have acted on the landing site in western Elysium Planitia. Moreover, it will help to reduce travel-time errors introduced into the analysis of seismic data due to poor knowledge of the shallow subsurface. The challenge faced by the InSight team is to overcome the limited temporal resolution of the sharp hammer signals, which have significantly higher frequency content than the SEIS 100 Hz sampling rate. Fortunately, since the mole propagates at a rate of \(\sim1~\mbox{mm}\) per stroke down to 5 m depth, we anticipate thousands of seismic signals, which will vary very gradually as the mole travels.Using a combination of field measurements and modeling we simulate a seismic data set that mimics the InSight HP3-SEIS scenario, and the resolution of the InSight seismometer data. We demonstrate that the direct signal, and more importantly an anticipated reflected signal from the interface between the bottom of the regolith layer and an underlying lava flow, are likely to be observed both by Insight’s Very Broad Band (VBB) seismometer and Short Period (SP) seismometer. We have outlined several strategies to increase the signal temporal resolution using the multitude of hammer stroke and internal timing information to stack and interpolate multiple signals, and demonstrated that in spite of the low resolution, the key parameters—seismic velocities and regolith depth—can be retrieved with a high degree of confidence.     

Near Surface Stratigraphy and Regolith Production in Southwestern Elysium Planitia,Mars: Implications for Hesperian-Amazonian Terrains and the InSight Lander Mission

The presence of rocks in the ejecta of craters at the InSight landing site in southwestern Elysium Planitia indicates a strong, rock-producing unit at depth. A finer regolith above is inferred by the lack of rocks in the ejecta of 10-m-scale craters. This regolith should be penetrable by the mole of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³). An analysis of the size-frequency distribution (SFD) of 7988 rocky ejecta craters (RECs) across four candidate landing ellipses reveals that all craters >200 m in diameter and \({<}750 \pm 30\ \mbox{Ma}\) in age have boulder-sized rocks in their ejecta. The frequency of RECs however decreases significantly below this diameter (\(D\)), represented by a roll-off in the SFD slope. At \(30\ \text{m} < D < 200\ \text{m}\), the slope of the cumulative SFD declines to near zero at \(D < 30\ \text{m}\). Surface modification, resolution limits, or human counting error cannot account for the magnitude of this roll-off. Rather, a significant population of <200 m diameter fresh non-rocky ejecta craters (NRECs) here indicates the presence of a relatively fine-grained regolith that prevents smaller craters from excavating the strong rock-producing unit. Depth to excavation relationships and the REC size thresholds indicate the region is capped by a regolith that is almost everywhere 3 m thick but may be as thick as 12 to 18 m. The lower bound of the thickness range is independently confirmed by the depth to the inner crater in concentric or nested craters. The data indicate that 85% of the InSight landing region is covered by a regolith that is at least 3 m thick. The probability of encountering rockier material at depths >3 m by the HP³ however increases significantly due to the increase in boulder-size rocks in the lower regolith column, near the interface of the bedrock.     

A Pre-Landing Assessment of Regolith Properties at the InSight Landing Site

This article discusses relevant physical properties of the regolith at the Mars InSight landing site as understood prior to landing of the spacecraft. InSight will land in the northern lowland plains of Mars, close to the equator, where the regolith is estimated to be \(\geq3\mbox{--}5~\mbox{m}\) thick. These investigations of physical properties have relied on data collected from Mars orbital measurements, previously collected lander and rover data, results of studies of data and samples from Apollo lunar missions, laboratory measurements on regolith simulants, and theoretical studies. The investigations include changes in properties with depth and temperature. Mechanical properties investigated include density, grain-size distribution, cohesion, and angle of internal friction. Thermophysical properties include thermal inertia, surface emissivity and albedo, thermal conductivity and diffusivity, and specific heat. Regolith elastic properties not only include parameters that control seismic wave velocities in the immediate vicinity of the Insight lander but also coupling of the lander and other potential noise sources to the InSight broadband seismometer. The related properties include Poisson’s ratio, P- and S-wave velocities, Young’s modulus, and seismic attenuation. Finally, mass diffusivity was investigated to estimate gas movements in the regolith driven by atmospheric pressure changes. Physical properties presented here are all to some degree speculative. However, they form a basis for interpretation of the early data to be returned from the InSight mission.     

InSight Mars Lander Robotics Instrument Deployment System

The InSight Mars Lander is equipped with an Instrument Deployment System (IDS) and science payload with accompanying auxiliary peripherals mounted on the Lander. The InSight science payload includes a seismometer (SEIS) and Wind and Thermal Shield (WTS), heat flow probe (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, HP³) and a precision tracking system (RISE) to measure the size and state of the core, mantle and crust of Mars. The InSight flight system is a close copy of the Mars Phoenix Lander and comprises a Lander, cruise stage, heatshield and backshell. The IDS comprises an Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA), scoop, five finger “claw” grapple, motor controller, arm-mounted Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), lander-mounted Instrument Context Camera (ICC), and control software. IDS is responsible for the first precision robotic instrument placement and release of SEIS and HP³ on a planetary surface that will enable scientists to perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation of Mars’ interior structure. This paper describes the design and operations of the Instrument Deployment Systems (IDS), a critical subsystem of the InSight Mars Lander necessary to achieve the primary scientific goals of the mission including robotic arm geology and physical properties (soil mechanics) investigations at the Landing site. In addition, we present test results of flight IDS Verification and Validation activities including thermal characterization and InSight 2017 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO), Deployment Scenario Test at Lockheed Martin, Denver, where all the flight payloads were successfully deployed with a balloon gravity offload fixture to compensate for Mars to Earth gravity.     

Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity Modeling and Inversion for Shallow Structure at the Proposed InSight Landing Site in Elysium Planitia,Mars

The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) instrument onboard the InSight mission will be the first seismometer directly deployed on the surface of Mars. From studies on the Earth and the Moon, it is well known that site amplification in low-velocity sediments on top of more competent rocks has a strong influence on seismic signals, but can also be used to constrain the subsurface structure. Here we simulate ambient vibration wavefields in a model of the shallow sub-surface at the InSight landing site in Elysium Planitia and demonstrate how the high-frequency Rayleigh wave ellipticity can be extracted from these data and inverted for shallow structure. We find that, depending on model parameters, higher mode ellipticity information can be extracted from single-station data, which significantly reduces uncertainties in inversion. Though the data are most sensitive to properties of the upper-most layer and show a strong trade-off between layer depth and velocity, it is possible to estimate the velocity and thickness of the sub-regolith layer by using reasonable constraints on regolith properties. Model parameters are best constrained if either higher mode data can be used or additional constraints on regolith properties from seismic analysis of the hammer strokes of InSight’s heat flow probe HP³ are available. In addition, the Rayleigh wave ellipticity can distinguish between models with a constant regolith velocity and models with a velocity increase in the regolith, information which is difficult to obtain otherwise.     

Thermophysics of the planet Mercury

Recent observations of the thermal emission of Mercury at microwave and infrared frequencies now permit a determination of the thermal and electrical properties of the subsurface of the planet. Radar and optical measurements show that the rotation period is 58.65 days, 2/3 of the orbital period. Several negative spectrographic searches verify that the effects of an atmosphere need not be taken into account in computing surface and subsurface temperatures. The observed thermal emission from the planet can then be interpreted from models similar to those developed for study of the Moon but adapted to the peculiar diurnal insolation of Mercury. The observations of Epstein et al. (1970) at 3.3 mm and of Klein (1970a) at 3.75 cm, when interpreted together with recent laboratory measurements of thermal properties of terrestrial and lunar rock powders, indicate that the ratio of electrical to thermal skin depth is 0.9 ± 0.3 times the wavelength in centimeters. Further results of this analysis of the subsurface are: Density = 1.5 ± 0.4 g cm^-3; Electric loss tangent = 0.009 ± 0.004; Inverse thermal inertia = (15 ± 6) × 10^–6 erg^-1 cm² s^1/2 K; Equatorial midnight temperature = 100 ± 15K.The microwave data generally conform to the predictions of the thermophysical models of Mercury developed by Morrison and Sagan (1967), including a suggestion that variations having mean periods of 50 days and 35 days are present in addition to the classical phase effect with period about 116 days. The time-averaged microwave temperature of the planet appears to increase 25 % from millimeter to decimeter wavelengths; this increase suggests that radiation plays an important role in the transport of heat in the subsurface. All of the conclusions of this review indicate that the thermophysical behavior of Mercury closely approximates that expected for the Moon, were it placed in the orbit of Mercury.     

Atmospheric Science with InSight

In November 2018, for the first time a dedicated geophysical station, the InSight lander, will be deployed on the surface of Mars. Along with the two main geophysical packages, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) and the Heat-Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³), the InSight lander holds a highly sensitive pressure sensor (PS) and the Temperature and Winds for InSight (TWINS) instrument, both of which (along with the InSight FluxGate (IFG) Magnetometer) form the Auxiliary Sensor Payload Suite (APSS). Associated with the RADiometer (RAD) instrument which will measure the surface brightness temperature, and the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) which will be used to quantify atmospheric opacity, this will make InSight capable to act as a meteorological station at the surface of Mars. While probing the internal structure of Mars is the primary scientific goal of the mission, atmospheric science remains a key science objective for InSight. InSight has the potential to provide a more continuous and higher-frequency record of pressure, air temperature and winds at the surface of Mars than previous in situ missions. In the paper, key results from multiscale meteorological modeling, from Global Climate Models to Large-Eddy Simulations, are described as a reference for future studies based on the InSight measurements during operations. We summarize the capabilities of InSight for atmospheric observations, from profiling during Entry, Descent and Landing to surface measurements (pressure, temperature, winds, angular momentum), and the plans for how InSight’s sensors will be used during operations, as well as possible synergies with orbital observations. In a dedicated section, we describe the seismic impact of atmospheric phenomena (from the point of view of both “noise” to be decorrelated from the seismic signal and “signal” to provide information on atmospheric processes). We discuss in this framework Planetary Boundary Layer turbulence, with a focus on convective vortices and dust devils, gravity waves (with idealized modeling), and large-scale circulations. Our paper also presents possible new, exploratory, studies with the InSight instrumentation: surface layer scaling and exploration of the Monin-Obukhov model, aeolian surface changes and saltation / lifing studies, and monitoring of secular pressure changes. The InSight mission will be instrumental in broadening the knowledge of the Martian atmosphere, with a unique set of measurements from the surface of Mars.     

Evaluating the Wind-Induced Mechanical Noise on the InSight Seismometers

The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures) instrument onboard the InSight mission to Mars is the critical instrument for determining the interior structure of Mars, the current level of tectonic activity and the meteorite flux. Meeting the performance requirements of the SEIS instrument is vital to successfully achieve these mission objectives. Here we analyse in-situ wind measurements from previous Mars space missions to understand the wind environment that we are likely to encounter on Mars, and then we use an elastic ground deformation model to evaluate the mechanical noise contributions on the SEIS instrument due to the interaction between the Martian winds and the InSight lander. Lander mechanical noise maps that will be used to select the best deployment site for SEIS once the InSight lander arrives on Mars are also presented. We find the lander mechanical noise may be a detectable signal on the InSight seismometers. However, for the baseline SEIS deployment position, the noise is expected to be below the total noise requirement \(>97~\%\) of the time and is, therefore, not expected to endanger the InSight mission objectives.     

Experimental investigation on aero-heating of rudder shaft within laminar/turbulent hypersonic boundary layers

The aero-heating of the rudder shaft region of a hypersonic vehicle is very harsh, as the peak heat flux in this region can be even higher than that at the stagnation point. Therefore, studying the aero-heating of the rudder shaft is of great significance for designing the thermal protection system of the hypersonic vehicle. In the wind tunnel test of the aero-heating effect, we find that with the increase of the angle of attack of the lifting body model, the increasement of the heat flux of the rudder shaft is larger under laminar flow conditions than that under turbulent flow conditions. To understand this, we design a wind tunnel experiment to study the effect of laminar/turbulent hypersonic boundary layers on the heat flux of the rudder shaft under the same wind tunnel freestream conditions. The experiment is carried out in the ?2 m shock tunnel(FD-14 A) affiliated to the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center(CARDC). The laminar boundary layer on the model is triggered to a turbulent one by using vortex generators, which are 2 mm-high diamonds. The aero-heating of the rudder shaft(with the rudder) and the protuberance(without the rudder) are studied in both hypersonic laminar and turbulent boundary layers under the same freestream condition. The nominal Mach numbers are 10 and 12, and the unit Reynolds numbers are2.4 × 10~6 m~(-1) and 2.1 × 10~6 m-1. The angle of attack of the model is 20°, and the deflection angle of the rudder and the protuberance is 10°. The heat flux on the model surface is measured by thin film heat flux sensors, and the heat flux distribution along the center line of the lifting body model suggests that forced transition is achieved in the upstream of the rudder. The test results of the rudder shaft and the protuberance show that the heat flux of the rudder shaft is lower in the turbulent flow than that in the laminar flow, but the heat flux of the protuberance is the other way around,i.e., lower in the laminar flow than in the turbulent flow. The wind tunnel test results is also validated by numerical simulations. Our analysis suggests that this phenomenon is due to the difference of boundary layer velocities caused by different thickness of boundary layer between laminar and turbulent flows, as well as the restricted flow within the rudder gap. When the turbulent boundary layer is more than three times thicker than that of the laminar boundary layer, the heat flux of the rudder shaft under the laminar flow condition is higher than that under the turbulent flow condition. Discovery of this phenomenon has great importance for guiding the design of the thermal protection system for the rudder shaft of hypersonic vehicles.     

Numerical investigation on flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical RP-3 in inclined pipe

Numerical simulations of flow and heat transfer to supercritical RP-3 through the inclined tubes have been performed using LS k–e model embedded in Fluent. The physical properties of RP-3 were obtained using the generalized corresponding state laws based on the fourcomponent surrogate model. Mass flow rate is 0.3 g/s, system pressure is 3 MPa, inlet temperature is 373 K. Inclination of the inclined pipe varied from -90° to 90°, with heat flux varied from 300 k W/m~2 to 400 kW/m~2. Comparison between the calculated result and the experimental data indicates the range of error reasonable. The results of ±45° show that temperature inhomogeneity in inclined pipe produce the secondary flow in its cross section due to the buoyancy force. Depending on the strength of the temperature inhomogeneity, there will be two different forms of secondary flow and both contribute to the convective heat transfer in the pipe. The secondary flow intensity decreases when the inhomogeneity alleviates and thermal acceleration will play a leading role. It will have a greater impact on the turbulent flow to affect the convective heat transfer in the pipe. When changing the inclination, it affects the magnitude of the buoyant component in flow direction. The angle increases, the buoyancy component decreases. And the peak temperature of wall dominated by the secondary flow will move forward and increase in height.     

Near-Field Seismic Propagation and Coupling Through Mars’ Regolith: Implications for the InSight Mission

NASA’s InSight Mission will deploy two three-component seismometers on Mars in 2018. These short period and very broadband seismometers will be mounted on a three-legged levelling system, which will sit directly on the sandy regolith some 2–3 meters from the lander. Although the deployment will be covered by a wind and thermal shield, atmospheric noise is still expected to couple to the seismometers through the regolith. Seismic activity on Mars is expected to be significantly lower than on Earth, so a characterisation of the extent of coupling to noise and seismic signals is an important step towards maximising scientific return.In this study, we conduct field testing on a simplified model of the seismometer assembly. We constrain the transfer function between the wind and thermal shield and tripod-mounted seismometers over a range of frequencies (1–40 Hz) relevant to the deployment on Mars. At 1–20 Hz the displacement amplitude ratio is approximately constant, with a value that depends on the site (0.03–0.06). The value of the ratio in this range is 25–50% of the value expected from the deformation of a homogeneous isotropic elastic halfspace. At 20–40 Hz, the ratio increases as a result of resonance between the tripod mass and regolith. We predict that mounting the InSight instruments on a tripod will not adversely affect the recorded amplitudes of vertical seismic energy, although particle motions will be more complex than observed in recordings generated by more conventional buried deployments. Higher frequency signals will be amplified by tripod-regolith resonance, probably reaching peak-amplification at \(\sim 50\) Hz. The tripod deployment will lose sensitivity at frequencies \(>50\) Hz as a result of the tripod mass and compliant regolith.We also investigate the attenuation of seismic energy within the shallow regolith covering the range of seismometer deployment distances. The amplitude of surface displacement decays as \(r^{-n}\), where \(1.5 < n < 2\). This exceeds the value expected for a homogeneous isotropic elastic halfspace (\(n \sim 1\)), and reflects an increase in Young’s modulus with depth. We present an updated model of lander noise which takes this enhanced attenuation into account.     

摆盘流动与换热性能数值仿真

针对受燃烧室出口高温燃气冲刷的摆盘装置的冷却水回路,建立二维、三维物理仿真模型,模拟了冷却水在内部流道的 流动与换热过程,考察了冷却水进口压力、冷却水流量对流阻和换热性能的影响.结果表明:①摆盘冷却水进口压力由2.3×105Pa提高到8.3×105Pa,摆盘壁温变化微小,结构1壁温升高5K,结构2壁温升高7K;②冷却水进口速度由0.5m/s提高到5.3m/s,结构1壁温降低约120K,结构2壁温降低约100K,冷却效果明显;③结构2通过缩小流道的流通面积,能在更小的冷却水流量的工况下得到更好的换热效果.      

The Rosetta Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)

The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is a small instrument to determine the elemental composition of a given sample. For the ESA Rosetta mission, the periodical comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was selected as the target comet, where the lander PHILAE (after landing) will carry out in-situ observations. One of the instruments onboard is the APXS to make measurements on the landing site. The APXS science goal is to provide basic compositional data of the comet surface. As comets consist of a mixture of ice and dust, the dust component can be characterized and compared with known meteoritic compositions. Various element ratios can be used to evaluate whether chemical fractionations occurred in cometary material by comparing them with known chondritic material. To enable observations of the local environment, APXS measurements of several spots on the surface and one spot as function of temperature can be made. Repetitive measurements as function of heliocentric distance can elucidate thermal processes at work. By measuring samples that were obtained by drilling subsurface material can be analyzed. The accumulated APXS data can be used to shed light on state, evolution, and origin of 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko.     

Morphological Biosignatures from Subsurface Environments: Recognition on Planetary Missions

The Earth is inhabited by life not just at its surface, but down to a depth of kms. Like surface life, this deep subsurface life produces a fossil record, traces of which may be found in the pore space of practically all rock types. The (palaeo)subsurface of other planetary bodies is therefore a promising target in the search for another example of life. Subsurface filamentous fabrics (SFFs), i.e. mineral encrustations of a filament-based textural framework, occur in many terrestrial rocks representing present or ancient subsurface settings. SFF are interpreted as mineral encrustations on masses of filaments/pseudofilaments of microbial origin. SFF are a common example of the fossil record of subsurface life. Macroscopic (pseudostalactites, U-shapes) and microscopic (filaments) characteristics make SFF’s a biosignature that can be identified with relative ease. SFF in the subsurface are probably about as common and easily recognizable as are stromatolites in surface environments. Close-up imagers (～50 micron/pixel resolution) and microscopes (～3 micron/pixel resolution) on upcoming Mars lander missions are crucial instruments that will allow the recognition of biofabrics of surface- and subsurface origin. The resolution available however will not allow the recognition of small (～1 micron) individual mineralized microbial cells. The microscopy of unprepared rock surfaces would benefit from the use of polarizing filters to reduce surface reflectance and enhance internally reflected light. Tests demonstrate the potential to visualize mineralized filaments using this procedure.     

An Investigation of the Mechanical Properties of Some Martian Regolith Simulants with Respect to the Surface Properties at the InSight Mission Landing Site

In support of the InSight mission in which two instruments (the SEIS seismometer and the \(\mbox{HP}^{3}\) heat flow probe) will interact directly with the regolith on the surface of Mars, a series of mechanical tests were conducted on three different regolith simulants to better understand the observations of the physical and mechanical parameters that will be derived from InSight. The mechanical data obtained were also compared to data on terrestrial sands. The density of the regolith strongly influences its mechanical properties, as determined from the data on terrestrial sands. The elastoplastic compression volume changes were investigated through oedometer tests that also provided estimates of possible changes in density with depth. The results of direct shear tests provided values of friction angles that were compared with that of a terrestrial sand, and an extrapolation to lower density provided a friction angle compatible with that estimated from previous observations on the surface of Mars. The importance of the contracting/dilating shear volume changes of sands on the dynamic penetration of the mole was determined, with penetration facilitated by the \(\sim1.3~\mbox{Mg/m}^{3}\) density estimated at the landing site. Seismic velocities, measured by means of piezoelectric bender elements in triaxial specimens submitted to various isotropic confining stresses, show the importance of the confining stress, with lesser influence of density changes under compression. A power law relation of velocity as a function of confining stress with an exponent of 0.3 was identified from the tests, allowing an estimate of the surface seismic velocity of 150 m/s. The effect on the seismic velocity of a 10% proportion of rock in the regolith was also studied. These data will be compared with in situ data measured by InSight after landing.     

The Juno Mission

The selection of the Discovery Program InSight landing site took over four years from initial identification of possible areas that met engineering constraints, to downselection via targeted data from orbiters (especially Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) and High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images), to selection and certification via sophisticated entry, descent and landing (EDL) simulations. Constraints on elevation (\({\leq}{-}2.5\ \mbox{km}\) for sufficient atmosphere to slow the lander), latitude (initially 15°S–5°N and later 3°N–5°N for solar power and thermal management of the spacecraft), ellipse size (130 km by 27 km from ballistic entry and descent), and a load bearing surface without thick deposits of dust, severely limited acceptable areas to western Elysium Planitia. Within this area, 16 prospective ellipses were identified, which lie ～600 km north of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Mapping of terrains in rapidly acquired CTX images identified especially benign smooth terrain and led to the downselection to four northern ellipses. Acquisition of nearly continuous HiRISE, additional Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), and High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images, along with radar data confirmed that ellipse E9 met all landing site constraints: with slopes <15° at 84 m and 2 m length scales for radar tracking and touchdown stability, low rock abundance (<10 %) to avoid impact and spacecraft tip over, instrument deployment constraints, which included identical slope and rock abundance constraints, a radar reflective and load bearing surface, and a fragmented regolith ～5 m thick for full penetration of the heat flow probe. Unlike other Mars landers, science objectives did not directly influence landing site selection.