A team of researchers led by Cypriot Planetary Scientist Dr. Constantinos Charalambous, has shed light for the first time on the fine structure of the mantle of planet Mars.
Dr Constantinos Charalambous, UK Space Agency Fellow in Mars Exploration Science, led a recent study as first author and member of NASA’s InSight science team, that was published in the Science Magazine. Dr Charalambous worked closely with seismologists and planetary scientists across Europe and the U.S. At Imperial College London, his team also contributed to the development of the short-period sensors onboard SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, which enabled these precise, high-frequency measurements.
«InSight let us “hear” seismic echoes from recent meteorite impacts reverberating through an ancient mosaic deep within Mars, revealing remnants of a story that began 4.5 billion years ago with colossal collisions. For the first time, we are seeing such fine-scale structure inside another planet — a kind of fossil record of Mars’ birth preserved in its grainy mantle — and this changes how we read the history of rocky worlds» Dr Charalambous told the Cyprus News Agency in an interview.
Mars, he added, offers the first direct evidence of fine-scale mantle heterogeneity in a rocky planet, opening a new window into planetary origins.
The way these internal structures are preserved links to thermal evolution, volcanism, gas release, and climate — ultimately, to what makes a world habitable, he told CNA.
It is recalled that in 2019, two rocks on planet Mars were named in the Cypriot dialect by NASA, in recognition of Dr Charalambous’ contributions to the InSight mission.
NASA gave Dr Charalambous the opportunity to name the rocks, and he honoured his birth roots by selecting the names “moutti” (nose) and “zavos” (askew, pointing at an angle) from the Cypriot dialect. The names were inspired by the distinct shapes and orientations of the rocks, which resembled their meanings.
“This is the first time we have names in the Cypriot dialect on the red planet,” Dr. Charalambous, had told CNA back then.
We “probed” the deep interior of Mars
( Source : CNA)
