NASA’s InSight Mission Scientists To Visit Southern Californian Cities Starting This Week

NASA scientists and engineers working on NASA’s Mars InSight mission will start visiting cities in the Southern California region from June 29. NASA’s Mars InSight Roadshow will stop at different cities throughout quake-prone California and to help people understand how the robotic lander that Insight Missions is carrying will probe the deep interior the Red Planet using seismology and other geophysical measurements.

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission was launched on May 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base and is scheduled to land on Mars on November 26, 2018. InSight is the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast.

After it reaches Mars, Insight will be first mission to study the deep interior of Mars, using an ultra-sensitive seismometer, a heat-flow probe and other instruments. InSight is managed for NASA by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. JPL is a division of Caltech.

NASA’s Roadshow brings family-friendly science activities, exhibits and public talks to communities throughout California, making comparisons between earthquakes and the marsquakes that InSight will try to detect. The Roadshow will also partner with local organizations along the way, promoting planetary science. All the museums on the Roadshow are members of the NASA Museum Alliance.

What to Expect:

• “Make Your Own Marsquake” interactive demo, in which members of the public jump and see seismometer readings on a screen
• Colorful backdrops and selfie stations
• Models of the InSight spacecraft
• Mars globe “cutaways” showing the interior of Mars
• Virtual reality headsets used to see panoramas of Mars

Who to Expect:

• Members of InSight’s mission and science teams
• JPL’s Mars public engagement team
• NASA Solar System Ambassadors

Tour Dates in Southern California:

June 29-July 1: Santa Ana

Discovery Cube Orange County, exhibit and public talks

July 4: Pasadena

AmericaFest at the Rose Bowl, exhibit

August 3-5: San Diego

San Diego Air & Space Museum, exhibit

Learn more about future dates and details at: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/participate/roadshow/