by NASA’s InSight spacecraft is filled with a thick layer of Mars dust in its latest selfie, which according to the agency will probably be the last of the mission.
The InSight solar landing craft operates at only one-tenth of its 5,000-watt landing capacity, the agency said at a news conference on May 17, and the new image shows just how much regolithic mass has accumulated in the last three and a half years. InSight, a milestone looking for a sea earthquake, surfaced in 2018 in an effort to better understand the interior of Mars. While the data collected by the mission will be available forever, the spacecraft terminates scientific activities to maintain power as best it can.
The new image has been released (opens in new tab) Monday, May 23, shows regoliths all over InSight in a selfie taken on April 24, the 1,211th day (Martian day) of the mission.
Related: NASA’s InSight podcast detects the largest earthquake on Mars to date
A dusty self-portrait. @ NASAInSight took what will probably be his last selfie on April 24th. In the GIF, you can see the first selfie of the spacecraft in December 2018 and the last one where it is covered by Martian dust. https://t.co/gvCNyRPnzC pic.twitter.com/CcN2Qzg90dMay 24, 2022
However, the agency says InSight will likely have very little power later this year to conduct new science. But the scientific value of the mission is marked by the organization’s expansions to its work. The main mission of the lander lasted a Martian year or almost two earth years.
The InSight did not have a secondary dust cleaning system, but relied on passing dust devils or strong breezes to clear the landfill. However, engineers were able to remove some dust in 2021 by throwing sand on the landing craft and allowing the wind to blow that sand onto the panel.
With his possible final selfie complete, the lander will move his hand into an “exit pose,” an inverted V shape. The quake detector will be on for a while, but is expected to turn off in late summer.
That said, InSight may be lucky before that point. Its power may last a little longer than expected, or a passing breeze may eventually push some of the dust away and allow the boat to squeak a little more science later in the year.
“It has exceeded our expectations at almost every turn on Mars, and so it may actually take longer than that,” Bruce Banerdt, chief researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the mission, told reporters at a news conference. on May 17th.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and up Facebook (opens in new tab).
