NASA's InSight lander, which has been conducting scientific explorations on the Martian surface for nearly four years, may have finally perished due to a lack of solar power as the dust has accumulated on its solar panels.
A NASA JPL update on Monday, December 19, reports that InSight did not react to communications from Earth since Sunday, December 18 and that the space agency has presumed InSight may have reached its end of operations. The team last communicated with InSight on December 15.
PIA23203: InSight's Dusty Selfie
InSight Mars Lander's Last Message
Since its arrival on Mars, InSight's battery has been progressively degrading. Strong winds on the Red Planet swept dust swept and got stuck to the lander's solar panels, decreasing the amount of solar radiation they could absorb.
InSight does not have duster-like equipment with which to clean its solar panels. In place of such a tool, which NASA experts agreed would have been useful in retrospect, the lander's operators explored other creative alternatives.
Last June, NASA said the InSight crew deployed the lander's robotic arm to dump Martian dirt on top of the dust, dislodging part of it and temporarily increasing power levels. That move was successfully completed six times.
The same month, NASA scientists raised worry that InSight might not make it until April 2022, despite the fact that its extended mission was scheduled to last until December 2022. Of course, the lander has officially reached that milestone-though it may have gone quiet forever.
Despite knowing for a while now that the end for the lander was near as the spacecraft's power supply continues to dwindle, it is still a sad event for astronomy. The NASA InSight Twitter posted its last message and revealed what might be the last image sent from the lander. It was followed by a tweet from NASA JPL that reported the spacecraft's situation.
My power’s really low, so this may be the last image I can send. Don’t worry about me though: my time here has been both productive and serene. If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will – but I’ll be signing off here soon. Thanks for staying with me. pic.twitter.com/wkYKww15kQ
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) December 19, 2022
The team behind the InSight Mars Lander has been battling steadily declining power levels for about two years. They relied on gusts of wind that could hopefully blow some of the dust off the lander's solar panels, but the spacecraft was in a location with minimal chances of becoming windy.
InSight Detected 1,300 Marsquakes Before Its Demise
The InSight team confirmed last May that its mission will end this year due to low power levels. However, the timing was unfortunate since the lander just detected the largest of the 1,300 marsquakes it heard on the Red Planet at magnitude 5.
According to Insider, InSight has detected not only marsquakes but also 10,000 dust devils, as well as atmospheric and seismic waves of meteors striking Mars since it landed on the planet. The discoveries have given scientists new insights into the composition of the Martian interior.
Bruce Banerdt, the InSight Principal Investigator, said that one of InSight's legacies is proving the technique of seismology for planetary science. The spacecraft helped scientists map out the inside of Mars for the first time in history.
They found that the MArtian crust is dried and more broken up due to asteroids hitting the planet, like the Moon. Also, it has at least two sublayers that are wrapped around a large liquid core. They also mapped out a potential chamber of magma deep underground. InSight's findings will help future researchers in studying how rocky planets form.
RELATED ARTICLE: Biggest Marquake Yet: Scientists Revealed InSight Seismometer Record of Mars Seismic Intensity Over 2,000 Kilometers
Check out more news and information on InSight in Science Times.
