The name of the mission and lander is Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight). It is expected to complete the 300 million-mile (483 million-kilometer) trip on November 26, 2018.

 

InSight will land at the Martian Elysium Planitia, a relatively flat plane near the equator. A location near the equator was chosen for the landing site because only areas near the equator provide enought sunlight year-round for the solar panels which power InSight.

 

The lander has two primary science objectives, according to NASA:

1. Understand the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets through investigation of the interior structure and processes of Mars

2. Determine the present level of tectonic activity and meteorite impact rate on Mars.

 

InSight will be the first mission to conduct an in-depth study of Mars’ crust, mantle, and core. It will measure “the planet’s ‘vital signs’: its ‘pulse’ (seismology), ‘temperature’ (heat flow), and ‘reflexes’ (precision tracking),” according to NASA.

 

InSight is carrying a seismometer called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS), that will record the waves traveling through the interior structure of the planet. Studying the waves should reveal what’s causing them. A number of phenomena can cause seismic waves including marsquakes, meteorites striking the surface, hot molten magma moving at great depths underneath the surface, and wind, according to NASA.

 

In the way that light changes when it passes through water or glass, seismic waves change when they pass through the interior of a planet. How the waves change depends on the material that the interior is made of. SEIS will tells scientists how the interior of Mars changes waves, helping them figure out which material changed it, according to NASA.

 

The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe (HP3) the lander is carrying will burrow almost sixteen feet (five meters) into the ground. It will measure the heat coming from Mars’ interior in order to determine the source of the heat and how much heat is flowing out of the planet.

 

The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, RISE, will precisely track InSight’s location to determine just how much Mars' North Pole wobbles as it orbits the sun. This will provide detailed information on the size of Mars' iron-rich core, and will help determine whether the core is liquid, and which elements, in addition to iron, may be present.

 

The lander is also carrying a dime-size chip with over 800,000 names from all over the world to the red planet. The names were submitted online over a 22-day period between August and September 2015.