The American space agency NASA estimates that the InSight lander, the first to study the internal structure of Mars and recorded hundreds of earthquakes, is coming to the end of its activity on the Red Planet, two years ahead of schedule. Mine is very low so this may be the last photo I can send.” Don’t worry about me, my time here has been both productive and quiet,” the mission personnel tweeted on behalf of the lander. “If I can keep talking to my staff, I will – but I’ll be done here soon. Thanks for sticking with me.”
Shortly thereafter, NASA officials reported that the lander had not responded to communications from Earth on Sunday, and that although they would try to communicate with it again, InSight was believed to be no longer operational. its activity,” the space agency said. “It is not clear what caused the change in its energy. The last time the mission team made contact with the space vehicle was on December 15.”
InSight was launched in May 2018, and half a year later it landed on Mars and began the first geological mission of its kind, which was supposed to last only two years. The lander studied the internal structure of the Red Planet, using a sensitive and advanced seismograph that can detect vibrations smaller than an atom. Using a “mole” device, which reaches a depth of five meters underground, she measured the underground temperature and the heat emission.
Throughout the years of its activity, Insight managed to record hundreds of earthquakes on Mars. On Sunday, NASA announced that last May an earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale was measured, which was five times stronger than the strongest earthquake recorded up to that time, and lasted nearly ten hours.
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