Key Takeaways:
- The InSight mission, which landed on Mars on November 26, 2018, was primarily tasked with investigating the planet's interior structure, focusing on crustal thickness, core dimensions and density, and mantle composition.
- Beyond its core seismic objectives, which yielded over 1,300 marsquakes, InSight also successfully collected a year of precise weather data, recorded the first magnetic field measurements on the Martian surface, and characterized local soil properties.
- A notable setback for the mission involved the "mole" subsurface probe, which only penetrated 16 inches despite a 10-meter design goal, attributed to unexpected soil characteristics, though this failure provided valuable terrain information.
- InSight's mission concluded on December 15, 2022, following an extension, due to diminished power generation from dust accumulation on its solar panels, leading to phased instrument shutdowns and subsequent loss of communication.
InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport, landed on Mars Nov. 26, 2018, tasked with a simple yet challenging mission: unlock the mysteries of Mars’ interior. Top priorities included uncovering Mars’ internal structure by measuring the thickness of the crust, obtaining the size and density of the core, and sussing out the structure and composition of Mars’ mantle.
In addition to bountiful seismic data, which include more than 1,300 marsquakes, InSight recorded about a year’s worth of weather data at the lander’s location with unprecedented accuracy, according to Bruce Banerdt, the mission’s principal investigator and principal research scientist. The InSight lander also took the first magnetic field measurements on the surface of Mars and measured several properties of the soil around it.
Not everything was a rousing success, however. Most famously, the mission’s “mole” subsurface probe only penetrated about 16 inches (40 centimeters) deep, despite being designed to burrow to a depth of at least 3 feet (10 meters). It turned out that the soil beneath InSight’s struts was unlike any previously encountered on the surface; it simply didn’t cooperate with the instrument’s design. But even that cloud has a silver lining, as it provided scientists with important details about the terrain upon which InSight landed.
InSight’s successful initial two-year mission was extended to run at least through the end of December 2022. But the stationary lander relied on power generated from its two large solar panels, which steadily gathered dust. That dust reduced the panels’ efficiency over time, forcing mission planners to make tough choices regarding power allotment. In May of 2022, engineers placed the craft’s robotic arm into a final resting pose and turned off all its instruments, save one: InSight’s seismometer continued to operate on what little power was available, running about half the time, according to Banerdt. InSight last contacted Earth Dec. 15, 2022, after which two attempts were made to raise the lander. Both failed, and a few days later, NASA officially brought the mission to a close.
