Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package
The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is a science payload on board the InSight lander that features instruments to study the heat flow and other thermal properties of Mars. One of the instruments, a burrowing probe nicknamed "the mole", was designed to penetrate 5 m (16 ft) below Mars' surface. In March 2019, the mole burrowed a few centimeters, but then became unable to make progress due to various factors. In the following year further attempts were made to resolve the issues, with little net progress. On January 14, 2021, it was announced that efforts to drill into the martian surface using the device had been terminated.
Artist's impression of HP3 on the surface of Mars | |
| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | German Aerospace Center (DLR) |
| Instrument type | infrared radiometer, thermal conductivity sensor |
| Function | Geophysics of Mars |
| Mission duration | 2 years on Mars (planned) |
| Began operations | Landing: 26 November 2018 |
| Website | mars |
| Properties | |
| Mass | 3 kg (6.6 lb) |
| Power consumption | 2 watts |
| Host spacecraft | |
| Spacecraft | InSight Mars lander |
| Operator | NASA |
| Launch date | 5 May 2018, 11:05 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 401 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-3E |
| COSPAR ID | 2018-042A |
HP3 was provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The hammering mechanism inside the mole was designed by the Polish company Astronika and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences under contract and in cooperation with DLR.
The Principal Investigator is Tilman Spohn from the German Aerospace Center.