NASA’s InSight Mars Lander is Gradually Losing Power and is Anticipated to End Science Operations Later this Summer.

NASA’s InSight Lander Accomplishes Science Goals on Mars as Power Levels Diminish

NASA’s InSight Mars lander is gradually losing power and is anticipated to end science operations later this summer. By December, InSight’s team expects the lander to have become inoperative, concluding a mission that has thus far detected more than 1,300 marsquakes – most recently, a magnitude 5 that occurred on May 4 – and located quake-prone regions of the Red Planet.

NASA’s InSight lander touched down in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars in November of 2018. During its time on the Red Planet, InSight has achieved all its primary science goals and continues to hunt for quakes on Mars.

The mission is the first to reveal the interior structure of Mars, using marsquakes to study the layers inside the planet. InSight’s seismometer was the first to detect a quake on another planet. InSight also measured weather at Elysium Planitia for four years with a unique set of meteorological sensors.

Credit: NASA