NASA’s Perseverance rover will be traveling 20,000 kilometers per hour when it reaches Mars’ atmosphere. The Insight lander is poised to record the seismic impacts of the rover’s entry, descent and landing sequence. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

HELSINKI — As NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover barrels through the Martian atmosphere this week and jettisons ballast that would otherwise doom its landing, the U.S. space agency’s two-year-old InSight lander will be listening intently, collecting data that could help scientists better understand the planet’s composition.

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Andrew Jones writes about China's space industry, including civilian programs, space science and exploration, policy, and commercial developments for SpaceNews, and writes the China Report newsletter. He has additional bylines in Scientific American,...