NASA's InSight Lander is in Big Trouble; Here's Why!

The InSight Lander from NASA is in trouble.

Business Insider said the InSight Lander is caked in so much dust that its solar panels cannot generate enough energy to keep it working. The said spacecraft has been performing critical research on the surface of Mars since it arrived in 2018,

To save resources, NASA has gradually turned off InSight's instruments and placed the lander into hibernation mode. The agency seems confident that it will make it.

Since the weather on Mars is so erratic, another dust storm might be enough to destroy the rover.

The InSight lander is currently in hibernation mode. NASA engineers are trying to save what is left of the spacecraft's life.

(Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CA - MAY 03: A heavy fog rolls in as the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas-V rocket with NASA's InSight spacecraft onboard awaits launch, Friday, May 4, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.

NASA's Insight Spacecraft Could Survive the Martian Winter, Recharge Its Batteries

The landing area of InSight is unlike any other, Interesting Engineering said. It's called Elysium Planitia, and it doesn't have the same strong wind gusts as NASA's Perseverance rover. Wind gusts are also known as "cleaning activities" because they blow accumulated Martian dust off of NASA robots' solar panels. Without the natural wind, the dust settles into a dense, sun-blocking sheet, rendering InSight virtually incapable of absorbing sunlight and generating further electricity.

In February, InSight's solar panels provide around 27% of their total energy capacity, which corresponds to the start of winter on Elysium Planitia. As a result, NASA ordered InSight to go into "hibernation mode," which switches off various instruments daily. However, the robot will soon be forced to switch off all functions that are not needed for survival.

There is, however, a reason to be optimistic. The InSight lander should be able to save enough power by ceasing all scientific operations. In that way, it would keep its systems warm enough to last through the deathly cold nights on Mars, when temperatures drop to minus 130°F (-90°C).

"The amount of power available over the next few months will really be driven by the weather," said Insight's Project Manager Chuck Scott, in an official statement.

ALSO READ: Could Sparkling Dust Particles From Martian Dust Storm Affect Mars Perseverance Rover?

However, while InSight appears to be operational for the time being, the possibility of a potentially fatal power outage has not diminished in the least. If the robot's batteries die, the intrepid lander will be doomed.

"We would be hopeful that we'd be able to bring it back to life, especially if it's not asleep or dead for a long period of time," said InSight's Principal Investigator Bruce Banerdt, in an Insider report. "But that would be a dicey situation."

When the Red Planet gets closer to the sun in July, NASA expects to restart InSight's full operations. Suppose the robotic lander survives Mars' harrowing winter weather, it will be able to continue listening for earthquakes and observing weather until 2022.

Random Dust Storm on Mars Could Spell Doom for NASA's Insight

In January, NASA's decision to abandon InSight's "mole" was motivated by the lander's lack of energy. It was designed to burrow into the surface of Mars and calculate temperatures deep within the planet's crust - information critical to understanding the Red Planet's deep history as well as its internal structure.

However, scientists will have to give up more data as the lander's instruments are turned off, with weather measurements becoming scarce and quake signals predicted to stop in the next month or so.

Banderdt believes the lander might skip some significant ones as well, but that it's safer to save the whole lander rather than risk all possible measurements for one.

"It's a nice zombie spaceship" if or when InSight lacks battery capacity, according to the scientist. It means it can deliberately recharge and restart until it has access to sunlight.

"The problem with that scenario is that in the meantime, the spacecraft is very, very cold," added Banderdt. "And this is happening during the coldest part of the year for the spacecraft. A lot of the electronics is pretty delicate."

"And it's, unfortunately, pretty likely that something would be damaged by the cold."

Although all signs point to NASA's InSight lander's demise, things could get worse. Much more dust could build up on InSight's solar panels if a random dust storm occurs in the next four or five months. This isn't dust-storm season, which is fortunate for the robot.