Rumbling ‘Marsquakes’ on the Red Planet are Mystifying and Exciting Scientists

NASA’s Mars InSight spacecraft landed on the Red Planet in November 2018. Scientists equipped the mission with a seismometer so they could learn how Mars releases seismic energy — that is, to get a feel for how the Red Planet rumbles. So far, InSight has recorded more than 100 seismic signals, and researchers are confident at least 21 of those are real marsquakes. But these quakes aren’t exactly what they expected to hear, and the findings have sparked intense curiosity about what lies beneath the dusty surface of Mars.