“Behold the ‘mole’,” NASA said in a statement after the ‘mole’ after it became visible on Mars last week, following an operation that removed its support structure. The mole, the informal name for a digging device on Mars, is part of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), an instrument designed to take the temperature below the surface of Mars. AdvertisingBuilt by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), HP3 measures the temperature of the interior to study the quantity of heat flowing out of Mars, and determine its source. This will help scientists find similarities if any between the makeup of Earth and Mars, and look for clues on the Red Planet’s evolution. The mole, a self-hammering device, can dig up to 5 m below the surface, but was unable to dig deeper than 30 cm.

Source: Indian Express July 02, 2019 19:41 UTC