NASA’s InSight probe, which landed on Mars four years ago, has sent back what may be its last image of the planet.
NASA InSight tweeted: “My battery is really low, so this may be the last photo I can send. But don’t worry about me: my time here has been both productive and peaceful .If I can continue talking to my mission team, I will, but my mission to Mars will end soon, thank you all for your company.”
InSight is expected to run out of power later this month, and NASA will officially end its mission to Mars when InSight loses two consecutive communication attempts.
InSight’s team began preparing for the end of its mission earlier this year, shutting down the most power-hungry devices and making sure the data it collected over the past four years is preserved.
Since landing on Mars in November 2018, the InSight lander has detected the Martian liquid core and other core components. After the “InSight” landed on Mars, it first captured the wind on Mars in December 2018, April 2019 Marsquakes were detected for the first time by humans, and it has detected more than 1,300 earthquakes on the planet, including a magnitude 5 quake in May.
The core mission of the InSight lander was accomplished in its first two years. A pair of 7-foot-wide solar panels initially produced about 5,000 watt-hours per solar (or Martian) day, but as of last month was only producing about 500 watt-hours per solar day due to dust buildup electricity.