Mars Lander Seismometer Gets Protective Shield (theguardian.com)

Nasa's InSight Mars lander has placed a domed shield over its seismometer, completing that instrument's deployment. From a report: The seismometer will look for evidence of ongoing seismic activity on the red planet to provide data about the deep interior of Mars. This will help scientists determine how the planet formed. The seismometer, called the seismic experiment for interior structure (Seis), is the lander's highest priority science instrument. It is needed to complete about three-quarters of the mission's scientific objectives. The spacecraft touched down on 26 November 2018. On 19 December, a robotic arm picked up the instrument from its storage position and placed it on the martian surface about 1.6 metres away from the spacecraft.

Comments

Silly question about the seismometer.

[KixWooder]

Can anyone tell me what all the bow-tie looking symbols are that painted all over the seismometer. It looks like they are on the shield, as well.

Re:Silly question about the seismometer.

[Xolotl]

These are reference points for assesing the position and orientation of the seismometer and the shield as they are put in place by the robot arm. They're like the smilar little bow-tie symbols on crash test dummies etc.

Re:Silly question about the seismometer.

[necro81]

Those are called fiducials. They are used to very precisely determine the location, distance, and orientation of an object when pictures of that object are taken. Because of their contrasting colors, the edges of different "wedges" are easy for a human or computer vision system to pick up; the center point is the intersection of those edges, etc. The "ovalness" of the fiducial can be used to determine the angle to the camera.

The same kind of fiducials are placed all over crash tests to track motion and displacement.

Re:Silly question about the seismometer.

[93 Escort Wagon]

They are used to very precisely determine the location, distance, and orientation of an object when pictures of that object are taken.

Location: On Mars
Distance: Far away
Orientation: Under federal statute, we are not allowed to ask

Re:Silly question about the seismometer.

[KixWooder]

I figured as much, but it's nice to have a title for them. Thanks for the info.

Re: Silly question about the seismometer.

[Anonymous Coward]

A very confusing word. Like lottery versus pottery.

Re: Silly question about the seismometer.

[Anonymous Coward]

Very nice !

Re:Good

[olsmeister]

You mean impacting there at whatever the terminal velocity is on Mars (I'll leave someone else to calculate that).

Maybe too late?

[Anonymous Coward]

My health teacher said never probe a strange planet's soil with your seismometer without first putting a domed shield over it.

Re:Maybe too late?

[Anonymous Coward]

i probed creimette's crater with my seismometer
if the grove is rockin
don't come a knockin

Re:Maybe too late?

[Anonymous Coward]

Creimette doesn't have time for your buggery. He has a new video explaining Microsoft's "Get Certified with Confidence" special offer and GetCertified4Less has a better discount on that special offer.

Re: Maybe too late?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for the link to that awesome video

Too bad they couldn't come up a recursive acronym

[sconeu]

If they could have come up with an MIC portion "on Mars InSight Craft"?

Then it could have been a recursive acronym... SEISMIC Experiment for Interior Structure on Mars InSight Craft

Re:Good

[Applehu Akbar]

...pervasive 200 year-old Americans...

You can already find these at a cruise ship breakfast buffet.

toxic community

[Anonymous Coward]

How did hope for normative trips to mars and extended lifespan while defending a people as being victims of circumstance warrant someone taking the time to moderate -1?

Are people so cynical here that the mere mention of hope or absence of insult isn't welcome?