NASA's InSight spacecraft on Mars nears final days
NASA’s InSight spacecraft is nearing the end of its life after four years on Mars.
The Mars InSight lander was sent to the Red Planet in 2018 to study its crust, mantle and core. Heavy dust buildup on its solar panels, the chief source of its power supply, is bringing it within weeks of becoming inoperable, NASA said Tuesday.
Officials said the lander is operating at about 20% of its previous power level.
The space agency detailed its plans for InSight before it ultimately goes offline. The lander is observed and operated by a team of 20 to 30 technicians and scientists collecting data on and beneath Mars’ surface, including seismic activity.
More than 1,300 marsquakes have been recorded since InSight landed Nov. 26, 2018.
Before InSight’s mission is finished, the team will store all of the data collected, eventually making it available to researchers around the world. Much has been learned about the soil, core and even weather on Mars, the space agency said.
“Finally, we can see Mars as a planet with layers, with different thicknesses, compositions,” said Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the mission’s principal investigator.
“We’re starting to really tease out the details. Now, it’s not just this enigma; it’s actually a living, breathing planet.”
The InSight team has been scaling back power consumption since summer. Members shut down several of its instruments to prolong the the seismometer’s operation.
The end of the InSight may be any day now. It is projected to be within the coming weeks, barring a windstorm that miraculously clears the dust from its solar panels. NASA will officially declare the mission ended when InSight misses two consecutive communication sessions.
“We’ll keep making science measurements as long as we can,” Banerdt said. “We’re at Mars’ mercy. Weather on Mars is not rain and snow; weather on Mars is dust and wind.”
InSight has spent 1,398 sols on Mars, a measure of solar days, which are about 3% shorter than a day on Earth.
