NASA's Mars InSight Lander Survives Dust Storm on Red Planet

After placing further strain on the spacecraft's power source in late September, NASA's InSight lander managed to endure a continent-sized Martian dust storm.

Just a few months ago, NASA ultimately decided to give up on InSight's survival, claiming that any solar panel debris would eventually be covered by dust. However, judging by the fact that InSight is still hanging on, it would appear that Mars' weather has been on our side.

NASA InSight Lander Survives Powerful Solar Storm

SciTechDaily said the NASA InSight Mars Lander was reportedly confronted by a powerful storm threatening its survival and functioning on the neighboring planet. The spacecraft survived, though, and is currently carrying on with its duties while regenerating the energy it used to take from the Sun for its solar panels.

The InSight Lander's light output decreased from 425 watt-hours per sol to barely 275 watt-hours per sol due to the continent-sized dust storm that obscured all potential light sources.

The InSight crew saw this as a serious threat to the spacecraft because it was believed that the storm was the end of it.

On September 21, NASA announced a dust storm that passed over the InSight Lander's location in the southern hemisphere of Mars. At first, it was believed that the storm would have minimal impact on the lander. The researchers assumed this would only have a little influence because it was around 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) from the InSight and did not anticipate it would significantly impact the lander.

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Martian Spacecraft Estimated to Stay Until January 2023

The InSight lander was deployed to Mars by NASA in May 2018. Since then, the spacecraft has been performing its job as it regularly surveys the planet and explores the area it is in to provide additional information to the agency. It is a component of NASA's Mars exploration and research to further their understanding of the Red Planet, which is currently understudied compared to its neighbor.

Before this year's dust storm in January, many people believed InSight had reached the end of its useful life since it entered safe mode after losing power. Nevertheless, it survived the storm and continued with its business until the following incident.

BGR, citing NASA, estimated that InSight might last until January 2023 based on current events. However-and, this is major because the weather must continue to be as calm as it has been in recent weeks. However, this might change, particularly if a dust storm or similar occurrence occurs in the lander's area. If that occurs, InSight's continued existence is not certain.

The dust in the air and the dust on the solar panels now determine InSight's capacity to produce electricity. InSight's existence will be severely threatened if a dust storm develops since it will cake additional dust onto the solar panels and fill the air with dust. Therefore, the only real hope is that InSight will keep hanging on.

Suppose the lander can continue to endure with favorable weather and little atmospheric dust. In that case, it could make it through the upcoming months. However, InSight Lander's prospects of surviving after that point are extremely slim.