InSight is still chugging along, defying its own death date with admirable determination.
The landmark Mars robot was expected to power down sometime in the late summer, as amassing dust had begun to obscure its solar panels and prevent it from fully charging up. At that time, NASA emphasized that its mission, which began in 2018, was a large success. During the past few years, InSight has reported daily weather reports, recorded more than 1,300 extraterrestrial temblors, detected Mars’ large liquid core, and helped researchers map the planet’s inner geology. But it isn’t done yet!
Though scientists want InSight to keep recording quakes for as long as possible, the robot’s latest challenge is a rather large dust storm. The storm was first detected in late September about 2,175 miles away from InSight, making little impact on the robot. But in the weeks since, the storm has grown larger and increased the dust in Mars’ atmosphere around InSight by 40 percent, making it even harder for its solar panels to collect enough sunlight. According to NASA, InSight’s energy has fallen « from 425 watt-hours per Martian day, or sol, to just 275 watt-hours per sol. »
To conserve its precious energy, scientists have decided to turn off InSight’s seismometer for two weeks as it waits out this dust storm. During this time period, the robot will not be able to continue recording marsquakes, but its operators are hoping the move will extend its energy sources longer than just the next few weeks.
If you’re worried about InSight blowing away in the wind of the dust storm, don’t be too concerned. NASA says though winds can get up to 60 miles per hour, Martian air is so thin that these storms only have a fraction of the strength that Earth’s storms do. So while the little robot won’t be blown away, it will have to deal with some messy, dusty air as it tries to reach some sunlight.
Keep going little guy! We’re all rooting for you!
