Princess Scott Science 12.22.2022 03:Dec AM EST

NASA’s Mars InSight Lander Misses Two Calls, Ends its Mission on Mars

NASA announced on Wednesday, December 21, that its InSight lander is retiring after completing its four-year mission on Mars, according to Space.com.

The robot already fell silent and missed two calls from home indicating that it can no longer communicate with the InSight team on Earth. Scientists last heard from the lander on December 15.

According to NASA, the InSight team will continue listening for the robot's response, as per The Verge. However, given its condition, they do not expect to hear anything from the lander in the future.

NASA Mars InSight Lander Loses Power

The NASA Mars InSight lander was sent to Mars to understand the geologic life story of the Red Planet.

The robot was launched in May 2018 and landed on Mars after six months. Now, after over four years of listening to the planet's quakes, dust devils, and meteor impacts, the robot will just sit idly on the planet where it has spent its career.

InSight lander relied on solar power, however, after spending four years on Mars, its solar panels have gathered too much dust to generate enough power to make it work.

According to iTechPost, the robot's pair of 7-foot-wide solar panels initially produce about 5,000 watt-hours each sol, or Martian day.

However, because of the dust accumulated, the solar panels only managed to produce about 500 watt-hours per sol last month.

Now, it seems that the robot completely loses power as indicated by its inability to establish communication with the InSight team on Earth.

The team has been expecting the lander to lose power for months. In fact, the team handling its operation started preparing for the robot's retirement.

One of the steps undertaken by the team is to shut down devices that require the most power. Moreover, they also ensure that the data it has collected over the past four years is preserved.

NASA Mars InSight Lander Sends Last Image From Mars

On Tuesday, December 20, the InSight team posted a tweet from the lander's point of view. It is accompanied by a photo, which according to the post is the last image the robot can send.

The post expressed gratitude to everyone for following its mission to the Red Planet. It tugged at the hearts of social media users.

InSight told everyone not to worry. Likewise, the robot said that its stay on the Red Planet has been both productive and serene.

The lander was sent to Mars to study what's below the surface of the planet, including its crust, mantle, and core.

In addition, it has been monitoring the tectonic, seismic, and meteorite movements on the Red Planet.

During its four-year mission on Mars, the InSight lander detected a magnitude five Marsquake. In addition, the robot also measured more than 1300 seismic activities.

Now that the InSight lander is retiring, Bruce Banerdt, the mission's principal investigator said it's hard to say goodbye to the robot as they've thought of it as their friend and colleague on Mars.

Barnerdt also added that he'd like to think of it as retiring and not dying. According to him, the lander is going to sit on the Red Planet and enjoy the Martian sunsets.