NASA Mars InSight Lander in Safe Mode After Facing Dust Storms on Red Planet

Due to a massive regional dust storm, NASA's InSight lander, which arrived on Mars in 2018, had to shift into safe mode.

InSight had to hunker down to protect the lander after a dust storm restricted sunlight to the solar-powered equipment on Jan. 7. The spacecraft has been steady thus far.

CNet said NASA had dealt with Martian dust storms before, most notably when the Opportunity rover's voyage was cut short in 2018 due to a worldwide dust storm.

InSight has already been hampered by dust on its solar panels. The lander crew devised a better method of removing some of the dust, allowing InSight to continue its science mission.

Suppose the present dust storm deposits additional particles on the panels. In that case, it might have a long-term impact on InSight's power source. If NASA is lucky, the storm may assist the lander's predicament.

(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.

ALSO READ: Mars Fun Facts: NASA Shares 5 New Stunning Discoveries About the Red Planet

NASA InSight Lander Remains Okay Despite Being on Safe Mode

NASA JPL announced in a statement that the mission's crew regained communication with InSight on Jan. 10.

Engineers found that its power remained relatively stable and was unlikely to exhaust the lander's batteries. Draining the lander's batteries might be deadly to its state since it would require a hardwire to be recharged.

The dust on InSight's panel may have contributed to the solar panels' inability to charge the lander. NASA has already made changes to the spacecraft to prolong its life, including a method for shaking off the dust and continuing operations.

According to NASA JPL (via Fuenitech), the storm seems to be weakening. The lander is expected to be released from safe mode next week.

NASA to Decommission InSight Lander? Not True!

Stories that the InSight Lander would soon be out of service and deactivated on Mars have circulated online. However, the spacecraft still has a lot of work to perform and bring to NASA. The dust storm may have been hazardous to the mission. However, it has passed, and events since then have shown that InSight is still in the game to provide humanity with additional knowledge about Mars.

Winters are tough on Mars and my power generation is low, as expected, but no need to panic. My energy levels will decline through late July, but as I get further into spring, they’ll improve. I’m still quite busy working to bury my seismometer cable and collecting quakes data. pic.twitter.com/UIdUL9jMVv
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) April 15, 2021

The InSight lander has proven a lot to the world, including its research of the Red Planet, which informed the public about several achievements on one of our Solar System's neighbors. The lander also burrows into the Martian surface to collect samples and examine the planet's terrain, which is important given its primary mission of studying Mars.

The discovery that Mars has quakes and tremors that shake the Red Planet and particular portions of Mars is one of its most popular research. Mars was formerly assumed to be a dead terrestrial planet. Still, it is a live planet like ours, with current studies examining it as a potential colony or destination.