Blustery

NASA's InSight lander placed its seismometer on Mars on Dec. 19, 2018. This was the first time a seismometer had ever been placed onto the surface of another planet. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

IN PLACE: Exciting news from NASA - InSight, their latest Mars lander, is doing so well, it's ahead of schedule. Already, the lander has placed a seismometer on the Martian surface. From what we read before the probe's landing, that wasn't expected to happen until well into 2019.

In a press release, InSight Project Manager Tom Hoffman, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, explained, "InSight's timetable of activities on Mars has gone better than we hoped. Getting the seismometer safely on the ground is an awesome Christmas present."  

It's kind of a big deal. "Seismometer deployment is as important as landing InSight on Mars," according to InSight Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt. "The seismometer is the highest-priority instrument on InSight: We need it in order to complete about three-quarters of our science objectives."

The seismometer will be measuring "marsquakes" (you didn't expect them to be called 'earth'quakes did you? ;) ) Scientists hope to deduce the depth and composition of the layers of Martian soil  by studying the waves captured by InSight's seismometer.  

Next up for InSight: Getting level. Right now it's sitting at about a 2- to 3-degree tilt. Engineers will level the lander, and once it's in the right position, seismometer measurements should commence. 

For more information about InSight, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight

GALE FORCE: Thursday evening we received a warning from our insurance company. No, we hadn't missed paying a bill. Rather, the warning was about an upcoming weather event where we live. On Thursday, Dec. 20, winds of up to 60 miles per hour were expected.

It certainly was blustery this morning, starting at a little after 9 a.m. at our place, just south of Seattle.  Lots of places lost power. Fortunately, we were spared.

North of Seattle, up by Mukilteo, check out this ferry making its way across choppy waters. I told the kids I'd kind of like to be on board for a ride like that. It would be exciting, for sure. 

IT'S A WRAP: We have spent hours and hours wrapping dozens of gifts over the past couple of days.  I can't believe there are only five days to go until Christmas.

Check out the Dollar Store 'treasure' we scored today to help us keep track.

Wrapping gifts is kind of mindless work (well, at least the way we do it), so we listened to some music to help make the time pass. Today's excellent choice was a cool set from one of our contemporary favorites, twenty one pilots.