NASA’s InSight Mars lander has sent what will likely be its final communication from the Red Planet, posting an image of its dust-covered seismometer on Twitter accompanied by a tearful farewell message.
Key Points:
- NASA’s InSight lander landed on Mars in 2018 and completed its primary data collection mission in 2020.
- He is known for his endearing posts on social media and his “selfies” taken with a robotic arm
- Its managers turned off most of its scientific instruments in the middle of this year when dust began to cover its solar panels.
“My power is very low so this may be the last picture I can send,” the message read.
“But don’t worry about me—my time here has been productive and serene.
“If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will, but I’ll be closing here soon. Thanks for staying with me.”
InSight, which stands for Interior Exploration through Seismic Research, Geodesy and Heat Transport, landed on Mars in November 2018 with the task of studying the composition of the planet’s interior and monitoring meteorite activity.
Its landing site, on a volcanic plain near the equator known as Elysium Planitia, was chosen for its flat, featureless landscape, which allowed more accurate seismic measurements to be taken directly from the surface.
The lander met its primary science goals by the end of 2020, after which NASA extended its mission for two more years.
However, its reliance on solar power and regular Martian dust storms meant the mission was always going to be a short-term affair.
The @NASAInSight Twitter account, run by the NASA team here on Earth, has been tweeting firsthand throughout the landing mission, gaining more than 771,000 followers in the process.
She has become known for posting “selfies” taken with the lander’s robotic arm, as well as displaying “postcards” sent by well-wishers to Earth.
The mission was always “at the mercy of Mars”
Last month, NASA warned that the InSight mission was nearly over as dust collecting on the lander’s solar panels had left it operating well below 20% of its original generating capacity since mid year
The space agency had turned off all of InSight’s science instruments except the seismometer in an attempt to extend the mission, but said it was unlikely that InSight would remain operational for more than “a few more weeks.”
“We are at the mercy of Mars. Weather on Mars is not rain and snow; weather on Mars is dust and wind,” said mission principal investigator Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“We will continue to take scientific measurements as much as we can.”
NASA said it would declare the mission over when InSight lost two consecutive communication sessions with the Mars Relay Network, five spacecraft currently orbiting the planet.
NASA’s Deep Space Network will listen for some time after that, but the space agency said there would be no “heroic measures” to reestablish contact with the lander.
After the mission, Foresight, a full-size engineering model of InSight that is kept on Earth to allow scientists to practice deploying science instruments, will be stored and stored “with loving care” , said Dr. Banerdt.
“He’s been a great tool, a great partner for us this whole mission,” he said.