France-United States space cooperation - French science on Mars - InSight lands on Mars with French SEIS seismometer

Monday 26 November at 20:54 CET, InSight (INterior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) landed on Mars with the French SEIS seismometer (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure), the mission’s main instrument, in the western portion of Elysium Planitia. Launched on the night of 5 May from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, InSight is now all set to begin its two-year mission to probe the red planet’s deep interior and attempt to answer the question taxing the minds of planetologists everywhere: Mars may have been habitable, but did it ever actually support life?