Scientists have finally been able to understand the crust underneath the surface of Mars. The research represents the first time that humanity has been able to start mapping the interior of another planet beyond our own Earth. The new research relied on data taken from Nasa's InSight mission, which has been looking for Marsquakes that reverberate across its surface. Using information about those quakes, researchers are able to understand what might be lurking beneath the Martian surface. Beneath the InSight landing site, the crust is either approximately 20 kilometres or 39 kilometres thick, according to an international research team led by geophysicist Dr Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun at the University of Cologne's Institute of Geology and Mineralogy and Dr Mark Panning at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

A Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, taking the European Robotic Arm (ERA) payload to the International Space Station. The 11-meter long robot has been folded and attached to the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called'Nauka', that will be its home base when it reaches the ISS. The rocket put Nauka and the ERA into orbit at 16:08pm GMT, ten minutes after liftoff, at an altitude of nearly 200 kilometres above the Earth. The ISS already has two robotic arms, which are used to berth spacecraft and transfer payloads and astronauts, but neither arm can each the Russian segment, the European Space Agency said. Instead, the ERA will'walk' around the Russian parts of the orbital complex, handling components up to 8000 kilograms, and transport astronauts when it eventually reaches the station.