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Mars Microseismometer

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a suite of miniature seismometers and accelerometers for planetary and microgravity science. Current highly sensitive seismometers, as used in remote earthquake monitoring, are large, heavy, delicate, and expensive.

The Center for Space Microelectronics Technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is using a combination of micromachining and novel transducer electronics to produce an ultrasensitive instrument in a robust, compact, and low-power package. Conventional seismometers weigh 20kg (about 44 pounds). This Mars microseismometer weighs only 100g (about 3 ounces).

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Ongoing Technology Development:

http://csmt.jpl.nasa.gov/csmtpages/Technologies/seismo/seis.html