After four years on the surface of Mars, NASA’s InSight mission has ended. A work that has served to detect more than 1,300 marsquakes and meteorite impacts, and contribute to the theory that the Red Planet is something more than a frozen desert with a heart of stone. However, in recent days, mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been unable to establish contact, after two attempts, with the probe, which has led them to the conclusion that the solar batteries of the spacecraft have run out of power.
Although NASA will continue to watch for any signals from the module, it is considered “unlikely that any signals from it” occur, after its last communication on December 15. The most likely theory is that Martian dust has covered the entirety of the solar panels, preventing the probe from charging the batteries.
The InSight module landed on Mars in 2018 and was designed to carry out scientific activities for two years, a useful life that it has far exceeded. It even kept making discoveries as the dust on its solar panels gradually lowered their power levels, data scientists will use for years, NASA reports.
The agency’s director of science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen, noted that although “while saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating science that InSight has accomplished is cause for celebration.” Zurbuchen referred, in particular, to the seismic data collected by this mission, which “by themselves offer enormous knowledge not only of Mars, but also of other rocky bodies, including Earth.”
Details about the inner layers of Mars
InSight set out to study the interior of Mars, and its data has provided details about its inner layers, weather, and much seismic activity. Its highly sensitive seismometer, along with daily ground-based monitoring, detected 1,319 marsquakes, including those caused by meteoroid impacts, the largest of which unearthed boulder-sized chunks of ice late last year.
These impacts help scientists determine the age of the planet’s surface, and seismometer data provide a way to study the planet’s crust, mantle, and core.
In fact, the seismometer was the last scientific instrument to remain on as dust accumulated on the lander’s solar panels gradually reducing their power.
Problems with the mechanical drill
All missions to Mars face challenges, and InSight was no different, recalls NASA, referring to its mechanical drill, designed to drill up to about five meters deep and measure the heat inside. Designed for the loose, sandy soil of other missions, it couldn’t pull in the unexpected lumpy soil surrounding InSight, so it went only as far as 16 inches, though it did collect “valuable data on the physical and thermal properties of the soil,” which is useful for future missions.
At the end of the mission, the principal investigator Bruce Banerdtof JPL, noted: “We have thought of InSight as our friend and colleague on Mars for the last four years, so it is difficult to say goodbye,” but “it has earned its well-deserved retirement.”
The InSight mission had various European partners, including the Spanish Center for Astrobiology (CAB) that provided the wind and temperature sensors.