Nasa reveals Mars' deep interiors for first time

Gulf Today Report

Nasa's Insight lander revealed that the Red Planet’s centre is molten (Earth's outer core is molten while its inner core is solid).

Nasa unveiled the deep interiors of the Red Planet for the first time.

The papers were published in the journal Science, providing details on the depth and composition of Mars' crust, mantle and core.

The scientists found the crust was thinner than expected and may have two or even three sub-layers. It goes as deep as 20 km if there are two sub-layers, or 37 kms if there are three.

Beneath that is the mantle, which extends 1,560 km below the surface.

At the heart of Mars is the core, which has a radius of 1,830 km.

"When we first started putting together the concept of the mission more than a decade ago, the information in these papers is what we hoped to get at the end," said Bruce Banerdt, InSight's principal investigator.

"This represents the culmination of all the work and worry over the past decade," added Banerdt from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.