Elachi: The purpose of the InSight mission is to put a fixed lander, not a rover, which have a very sensitive seismometer. So the idea is to detect quakes on Mars. The reason that’s interesting is not only the quakes themselves, but the quakes because they propagate through the side of the planet, it will allow us to get a picture of the internal structure: the core, crust, and be able to compare it to Earth. Most of our information about the Earth’s internal structure comes from earthquakes, by seeing how earthquakes propagate and so on.Mundane matters yes, but we are in a pretty deep financial hole. Maybe you don't realize our viability as a nation is at stake here. No NASA doesn't cost very much in the grand scheme of things, but on a priority level as far as our attention to issues goes, its like thinking about taking a family trip to Disneyland when the bank has foreclosed on your home after you've lost your job. You can do it probably, but it seem!
s like a waste of resources when you really have to address how you're going to survive.<br />http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/31/jpl-director-visiting-mars-a-question-of-national-will/?hpt%3Dhp_c3
