NASA’s InSight lander continues to contribute valuable knowledge about Mars even after retirement.
NASA photo taken in late October Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) display Insight Stay on the surface of Mars. While no longer active, the rover is providing researchers with new data about how dust in the region accumulates and evolves over time.
“Although we no longer receive messages from InSight, it is still teaching us Mars” said Ingrid Daubar, a member of the Brown University science team, during a presentation at NASA on December 16 statement. “By monitoring how much dust collects on a surface and how much dust is picked up by wind and vacuum cleaners. dust storm — We know better about winds, dust cycles and other processes that shape the Earth.
InSight (abbreviation for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy, and Heat Transport) Landing on Mars In November 2018, in the western region of Elysium, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of Earth curiosity The location of the Mars rover in Gale Crater. Its mission is to study Mars’ internal structure and geological processes, as well as its thermal and chemical evolution, to gain a deeper understanding of how the Red Planet formed and developed over the past four billion years.
Related: InSight lander: exploring the interior of Mars
During its four-year operational lifetime, InSight uses advanced instruments to study beneath Mars and reveal the processes that shape the Earth-like planet. It analyzes the earth’s pulse through seismology, analyzes temperature through heat flow, and measures the earth’s vital signs through precise tracking and analysis of the earth’s reflections.
InSight is the first to detect “Mars earthquake“, recording a total of 1,319 earthquakes caused by seismic activity and meteor strikes. “The seismic data from this Discovery mission alone provides tremendous insight not only into Mars, but also into other rocky bodies, including Earth. Insights,” then-Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen, administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a report December 2022 Statement.
Its seismometer is the last active scientific instrument before the rover is officially put into operation. Retirement in December 2022. The mission ended when dust buildup on the solar panels reduced power supply and eventually cut off communications with Earth. Still, engineers continue to listen for any radio signals from the lander, hoping that Martian winds will clear enough dust from the panels to resume operations.
Recent images taken by the MRO show that solar panels have acquired the same reddish-brown hue as the rest of the planet. Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California used the photos to estimate the amount of accumulated dust, which will help prepare for future missions.
NASA reports that it will stop listening to InSight at the end of this year after not detecting any changes in the past two years.
“Seeing InSight now is a little bittersweet,” Daubar said. “It was a successful mission that produced many great scientific results. Of course, it would be nice if it lasted forever, but we know that’s not going to happen.”