InSight is Losing Power, it Probably Will be Shut Down in a Few Months

Mission managers said at a news conference on May 17 that the InSight Mars lander will cease science operations in the next few months due to a decreasing power supply. The amount of power on Mars has been reduced by 500 watt-hours due to dust on the solar panels. The solar panels produced 5,000 watt-hours each sol when InSight landed.

At the end of the calendar year, we anticipate having to conclude all InSight operations, according to Kathya.

By the end of the mission, InSight will have lasted four Earth years instead of two, and it will have detected more than 1,300 marsquakes. The biggest earthquake ever detected on another world was detected by the landers. The data collected by the mission was unprecedented.

The technique of seismology for planetary science is one of the legacies of InSight.

The director of NASA's Planetary Science Division said that InSight has transformed our understanding of the interiors of rocky planets and set the stage for future missions.

The solar panels on InSight have become covered in dust. The team has been waiting for a dust devil to clear the panels, like it did for the Mars rovers. No such luck. The engineering team took matters into their own hands. On windy days, they took advantage of the magnetic properties of Mars dust to clean the panels. The dust on the solar panels was attracted to the new dust when it was dropped on the Martian soil. The maneuver boosted energy production by about 5% each time, and it was done six times.

As Mars enters winter, there will be less sunlight and more dust in the atmosphere.

The team will put the lander's robotic arm in a resting position later this month because of the reduced power.

The team said that if only 25% of InSight's panels were swept clean by the wind, the landers would still be able to collect science. After the end of May, InSight's non-seismic instruments will rarely be turned on.

The seismometer will operate at certain times of the day, such as at night, when winds are low and marsquakes are less likely.

By that time, InSight might have enough power to take occasional pictures and communicate with Earth. The team believes that power will be low around December, which will cause InSight to stop responding.

The JPL press release is here.