NASA’s InSight lander, after four years in service, is ready to end its operations on Mars. Earlier this month, on Nov. 1, the space agency confirmed that following growing dust accumulation on the lander’s two 7-foot-wide solar arrays, it will cease science operations to end of this summer, before completely losing energy in December. . NASA’s InSight lander monitors churning occurring beneath the Red Planet’s surface.
As engineers began farewell preparations for the lander, NASA InSight’s official Twitter account wrote, “The day is coming when I go silent, ending my nearly four Earth years (more than two Martian years ) study of the red planet. As my time on Mars draws to a close, my team is making sure scientists can get the most out of everything I’ve collected.
The day is coming when I’ll fall silent, ending my nearly four Earth years (over two Mars years) of studying the Red Planet. As my time winds down on Mars, my team is helping make sure scientists can get the most out of everything I’ve gathered.
More: https://t.co/nujLgj7sUx pic.twitter.com/I0ZaRvFQpM
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) November 1, 2022
InSight gradually lost power due to dust buildup on its solar panels after the dust storms. It gradually blocked sunlight, which prevented the lander from recharging its solar batteries. As the team struggles to clean the solar panels of dust, the spacecraft’s ability to generate power also continues to deteriorate.
The lander’s mission to Mars is set to end in the next few weeks, despite unsuccessful efforts by NASA to extend it as long as possible. In order to keep the seismometer running as power was rapidly running out, the InSight team had shut down all of its science instruments earlier this year.
When InSight arrived on Mars in 2018, the panels produced around 5,000 watt-hours each Martian day (a touch more than an Earth day). Today, the panels produce about 500 watt-hours per Martian day. To explain this, NASA claims that such levels of energy can power an electric furnace for 100 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively.
NASA said if InSight misses two consecutive attempts to communicate with the spacecraft orbiting Mars, the agency will declare the mission terminated. This is only applicable when the cause of the missed communication is the lander itself.
In the meantime, until InSight stays in touch, the team will continue to collect data.
Keywords: Mars, NASA, InSight, Lander, Mission, Dust, End, Buzz
When InSight arrived on Mars in 2018, the panels produced around 5,000 watt-hours each Martian day (a touch more than an Earth day). Today, the panels produce about 500 watt-hours per Martian day. To explain this, NASA claims that such levels of energy can power an electric furnace for 100 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively.
NASA said if InSight misses two consecutive attempts to communicate with the spacecraft orbiting Mars, the agency will declare the mission terminated. This is only applicable when the cause of the missed communication is the lander itself. In the meantime, until InSight stays in touch, the team will continue to collect data.
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