Measuring the Martian Heat Flow Using the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3)

The InSight Discovery-class mission to study the martian interior will deliver a geo-physical package to the surface of Mars in 2016. The primary payload of the InSight lander consists of a seismometer and the HP3 heat flow probe [1,2]. InSight will thus address fundamental questions of martian geophysics. The main mission goals are the determination of the size, physical state, and composition of the core and mantle, the thickness of the crust, and the thermal state of the martian interior. HP3 will measure the heat flow at the landing site in Elysium Planitia (139oE 1oN), and thereby provide an important baseline to constrain mantle potential temperatures and the bulk abundance of heat producing elements in the martian interio