Saying goodbye is never easy. 794 lb Mars lander Since 2018, no humans have seen it in person. NASA news release on Wednesday The lander’s swan song began a few days ago, officially marking the end of the InSight mission.
On Monday, the InSight mission’s official Twitter account wrote:The battery is low and it’s getting dark“
INSIGHT’S MISSION TEAM For months I knew the end was near… (not making a quick pun). Like its predecessor OpportunityMartian dust covered InSight’s solar panels, leading to its demise – The Associated Press reported in May that InSight was generating electricity Only 10% of electricity was once possible.
Although it never fully realized its potential, InSight shuffles through this deadly coil, adding undisputed volume to our understanding of Mars.this is seismograph measured more than 1,300 earthquakes, helping researchers understand the phenomenon and infer the size and content of layers on Mars. But another aspect of the lander is the heat probe. called “mole” It was designed to dig a few feet below the surface of Mars, but could only do so a few inches before being disturbed by a lump of dirt.
“InSight lived up to its name,” said Laurie Lethin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. in the news release“It’s sad to say goodbye, but InSight’s legacy lives on and remains so informative and inspiring.”
According to NASA, the decision that the mission has officially ended, and even the declaration that the lander is in a “dead bus” state, the engineering equivalent of calling something “clinically dead” It took place after the ship missed two consecutive communication sessions. A spacecraft orbiting Mars.InSight’s Last Communication with Earth Occurs on December 15thNASA’s International Deep Space Network will continue to listen for signs of activity from InSight “just in case”, but that seems unlikely.
Does this make you weirdly emotional? You are not alone. wish Poured from countless corners You can also commemorate InSight’s short but eventful life on NASA’s website. Send a digital postcard to InSight in some of its most iconic images. Bruce Banerdt, a geophysicist at his JPL who served as the mission’s principal investigator, said: called insight “A friend and colleague who has earned a well-deserved retirement.”
Rest assured, InSight.
