NASA said on Wednesday that the Mars InSight lander, the first robotic probe focused on researching the deep interior of a distant globe, has been deactivated four years after it splashed down on the red planet’s surface. The space agency recently stated that the dust on Mars is strangling the rover’s power system and that it would certainly die shortly.
When two consecutive attempts to re-establish radio contact with the lander failed, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles judged that the mission had ended. This meant that the solar-powered batteries in InSight had run out of electricity.
NASA estimated that the rover’s mission would end in a few weeks because the dust was building on its solar panels, making it difficult for it to recharge its batteries.
JPL engineers will keep an eye on the lander in case it sends a signal, which does not appear plausible at this point. On December 15, the three-legged stationary probe last communicated with Earth.
lander has revealed information on the Mar’s internal layers
In November 2018, the lander made its initial landing on the vast expanse of Elysium Planitia. It has a quake monitor, which it has used to conduct geologic excavations and measure marsquakes. In fact, proving that Mars is seismically active was one of the rover’s most significant accomplishments. It detected almost 1,300 earthquakes on Mars. A year ago, one such impact gouged boulder-sized shards of water ice startlingly near Mars’ equator.
“The seismic data from this discovery program mission alone provides great insights not only into Mars but other rocky bodies, including Earth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s science mission directorate.
The lander has revealed information on the planet’s internal layers, liquid core, outer crust thickness, and the structure of the mantle that lies between. It was planned to be a two-year expedition, but it was later extended to four.
Meanwhile, Perseverance, another freshly launched Mars rover, continues to collect Martian material samples for future investigation on Earth.