Bruce Murray Space Image Library

InSight tether pinning mass adjustment test

InSight tether pinning mass adjustment test
InSight tether pinning mass adjustment test To make sure the InSight seismometer is completely mechanically isolated from any noise from the lander, the InSight team plans to tug slightly on the tether to pull open the cable bend at the load shunt assembly (at the left side of this photo). They plan to use the scoop on the end of the arm to pull on a grapple point on the tether's "pinning mass," a weighted block intended to prevent the tether from moving in the Martian wind. This photo shows the scoop poised over the pinning mass in the Earth-based testbed. NASA / JPL-Caltech / IPGP / Philippe Labrot