NASA pops titanium tea cosy over Martian InSight probe instrument NASA’s InSight lander has been revamped to let scientists study the interior of Mars for the first time. The lander’s seismometer was carefully placed on the surface of the Red Planet in December last year, and has now been enclosed in a metallic dome. The cap acts as a shield protecting the sensitive Seismic Experiment for …
> They don't drink tea in France (or America)
My US employer's on-site mini-convenience store has a dozen different types of tea bags available, and the cafeteria serves 8 different flavors of sweet and unsweet teas. Since any size cup of tea is $1.00 I often avail myself of the 32oz/1-liter cups. That's enough calorie-free caffeine to get me started in the morning.
'The shape is aerodynamic to ensure any passing wind presses the instrument towards the planet's surface so it won't topple over.'
I was under the impression the density of the atmosphere was so low that despite potentially high velocity it's force would be pretty negligible. I would have thought the winds cooling effect would have been a greater issue.
You could put a wider base on the instrument to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible but hey, what do I know, an aerodynamic dome shape works for all eventualities and they are the boffins after all...
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