Stirling boffins onNASA Marsteam

Two Stirling University scientists are working on NASA’s latest mission aimed at finding out more about the Red Planet.

Dr Axel Hagermann and Dr Nicholas Attree, of the faculty of natural sciences, will study data from InSight, the craft which landed on the Red Planet on Monday.

InSight, which launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 5, will measure the ‘vital signs’ of Mars, which formed 4.5 billion years ago.

The mission will study the deep interior of Mars, collecting information on its seismology, temperature and radio science.

Scientists hope that, by comparing Earth’s interior to that of Mars, they will better understand the origin and evolution of the Solar System.

Dr Hagermann said: “The landing is a milestone in this major project which aims to shed new light on the formation and early evolution of Mars and other rocky planets, including Earth.

“Our team will measure the heat coming through the surface of Mars, as well as the level of heat retained.

“We will also look at the physical properties of the crust, its thermal conductivity and the level of radioactive elements within it.”

During the mission, a self-hammering probe will burrow between 10 and 16 feet into the Martian soil – 15 times deeper than any previous hardware on Mars – over the course of about 30 days to measure for the first time heat flow from the planet’s interior.

Dr Hagermann is also working on the Japaneseled Hayabusa2 mission, which delivered a lander onto the surface of the primitive asteroid Ryugu last month.