Over the past few decades we have continued to learn more and more about the Martian world. Rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance are helping us learn more about ancient riverbeds and the possibility of life on the Red Planet. And now data from NASA’s defunct InSight lander may teach us more about Mars’ core.

It was previously believed that the core of Mars may be a large object that is not very dense. These data were obtained by the InSight Seismic Experiment for the Interior Structure mission. However, new research on some InSight data shows that the object thought to be the core of Mars is actually just a thick layer of molten rock surrounding a much smaller inner core made of molten iron.

To fully understand how we got here, we need to reconsider previous theories that Mars was once covered by a vast ocean of magma, which later transformed into a heterogeneous mantle of iron, silicates, and radioactive elements. All this continued to produce heat. Although InSight seismic data supported this possibility, it did not take into account the volatility of these elements and how easily they evaporate when heated enough.

This means that most of this light material must have been lost from the magma ocean due to heat. So how did the core of Mars become so light? This is a question that scientists have not yet been able to answer. But new research and studies of InSight data suggest that the planet’s core may be much smaller and denser than the thick layer of molten rock InSight has currently detected.

Virtual study of a planet will undoubtedly help us better understand the evolution of rocky planets such as Mars and Earth. It might even help us better understand how Mars lost its magnetic field four billion years ago, and scientists have been waiting to find out. Source