The NASA probe “Insight”. (Image: Nasa)
On May 5th, 2018 the Mars mission “Insight” began, 205 days later the stationary lander was deposited on the surface of Mars. Equipped with a heat flow probe and a seismometer, the early geological development of the red planet will be researched. Researchers want to better understand how the planet was formed within our solar system.
Originally the 425 million US dollar Mission will not be completed until December 2022. However, given the ongoing problems, it could end sooner. The lander’s power supply will gradually decrease. The reason for this is the deposition of dust on the solar panels that supply the device with energy.
When meeting the “Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group” on June 21st, NASA announced that the accumulation of Martian dust on the probe’s solar cells was “significant”. This is reported by Spacenews.
Martian dust turns the juice off
Originally, the lander had almost 5,000 watt hours of solar energy available per day. Due to the dusty cells, it currently only has an amount of energy of less than 700 watt hours. As the situation is more likely to get worse than better in the near future, the mission could well come to a standstill in the first quarter of 2022. At least that is what Bruce Banerdt, one of the main researchers on the Insight mission, fears. A total of 80 percent of the probe surface is already covered by impermeable dust.
More on the subject
- Are rock samples from Mars a risk for the earth ? Mars’ attraction: Why the red planet is booming
- In the crust: NASA researchers solve puzzles about water des Mars
The end of the mission does not come as a complete surprise for NASA. A constant drop in energy over the years was expected. Now the calculated end of December will probably fall in April 2022. Also because the hoped-for “cleaning events” in the form of gusts of wind did not materialize. The seismometer can still work and deliver data to the researchers before it is expected to have to be switched off in spring.
