NASA now gives curious earthlings a daily look at how the weather is on the Mars. Environmental data is taken at Elysium Planitia, near Mars’ equator by the InSight Lander’s meteorological sensors and then relayed back to NASA in calibrated one-hour averages. Info like the air temperature, wind speed and pressure (Pa) are all available.
“The InSight lander is close to the Martian equator — just north of the equator — so it is experiencing Martian winter,” said Don Banfield, the mission’s lead for the lander’s Auxiliary Payload Subsystem (APSS).
The lander is equipped with sophisticated weather-monitoring equipment on account of one of its instruments, an ultrasensitive seismometer that scientists will use to see inside the planet. But that device is so sensitive that it could mistake gusts of wind for elusive so-called marsquakes — which is why scientists need to track the weather, second by second, on Mars.
Temperature on Mars regularly drops below -90°C and rarely rises above -9°C, the data revealed. Calling it “geeky fun for meteorologists,” NASA said, “It gives you the sense of visiting an alien place.”
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