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Space

NASA sent a robot to the Red Planet to listen for marsquakes

By Mika Mckinnon

5 May 2018

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The NASA InSight spacecraft on the launch pad

NASA/Bill Ingalls

A trio of spacecraft blasted off from California early on the morning of 5 May and are now en route to Mars. At least, that’s the best explanation I have for that rolling growl that rattled my bones at Vandenberg Airforce Base in California. I never saw the rocket.

At 4:05 am local time on Saturday, Mars InSight launched aboard an Atlas V rocket, marking the first interplanetary launch from the west coast of North America. InSight — Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport —…

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