A Mysterious Signal Came From Mars

Scientists have discovered its source.

The seismometer on NASA’s Viking 2 lander recorded two anomalous signals on Mars. One of them was exactly what scientists had hoped to detect.

Researchers conducted a new analysis of data collected 50 years ago by the Viking 2 lander’s seismometer. According to a study published in the journal AGU Advances, one of the two anomalous signals was caused by seismic activity beneath the surface of Mars. This means that the first earthquake on the Red Planet was detected in 1976, not several decades later, writes IFLScience.

Earthquakes and the seismic waves they generate are one of the most important sources of information about the Earth’s internal structure. In 1975, NASA scientists installed a seismometer on the Viking 2 lander, which arrived on Mars to study the geology of the Red Planet and detect possible seismic activity.

However, the seismometer was mounted on the upper part of the spacecraft, causing the instrument to pick up strong noise caused by the wind. Therefore, it remained unclear until now whether the two anomalous signals recorded were caused by earthquakes on Mars or were simply noise caused by the wind.

Scientists were only able to gain a full glimpse into the Red Planet’s interior with the help of NASA’s InSight lander, which operated on Mars from 2018 to 2022. Its seismometer was placed directly on the planet’s surface and recorded 1,319 earthquakes. As a result, scientists determined that Mars is a seismically active planet.

Scientists reanalyzed the anomalous signals received by “Viking 2” and then transmitted this data to Earth. The researchers compared these seismic signals with data obtained by InSight and determined that one signal was most likely caused by an earthquake on Mars. In other words, this is likely the first recorded instance of underground tremors on the Red Planet, and it occurred 50 years ago.

According to the scientists, the shape of the seismic wave bears a striking resemblance both to underground tremors recorded on Earth and to data from the InSight lander’s seismometer.

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