After around four years on Mars, the NASA lander “Insight” has possibly sent its last image to earth. “I’m almost out of power, that could be the last picture I can send,” said Tuesday night on the Twitter channel of the lander operated by NASA. The image shows the area of Martian soil directly in front of the lander. NASA had already declared in November that “Insight” would only have energy for a few weeks. The reason for this is the dust from the red planet, which is getting thicker and thicker on the solar modules.
The stationary lander arrived on Mars in November 2018 to measure seismic activity. He achieved his scientific goals after just over two years, so that he has been on an “extended mission” ever since. “We’re finally seeing Mars as a planet with layers, different thicknesses and compositions,” said Bruce Banerdt, NASA’s research director for the Insight mission, a few weeks ago.
According to NASA, “Insight” has registered more than 1,300 marsquakes since its arrival, giving scientists information about the inner structure of the planet. The main task now is to secure the amount of data and make it accessible to researchers all over the world. The data would provide new discoveries for decades to come, said the project’s deputy research director.
