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Mars Lander Confirms 'Marsquakes' And Aftershocks On Red Planet

IPGP/Nicolas Sarter
In this artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet's subsurface can be seen below and dust devils can be seen in the background.

NASA's newest Mars lander has confirmed that quakes and even aftershocks are regularly jolting the red planet.

Scientists reported Monday that the seismometer attached to the InSight spacecraft has detected scores of marsquakes.

Research papers focus on the 174 quakes registering on the seismometer through last September. Twenty-four were relatively strong -- magnitude 3 to 4.

InSight landed on Mars in November 2018, and the French seismometer was placed directly on the volcanic plain the following month.

The lander still has another year of geologic observations.

A German-built probe, meanwhile, has had trouble burrowing into Mars. Scientists haven't given up yet on the mechanical mole.

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