NASA’s $ 800 million Mars lander is in an energy crisis.
InSight, which landed in a Martian plain called Elysium Planitia in 2018, detected more than 500 earthquakes on Mars, felt more than 10,000 dust devils pass by, and began measuring the core of the planet.
But in recent months, InSight has been fighting for his life as the unpredictable weather of the red planet threatens to snatch the robot.
Unlike other sites where NASA sent rovers and landers – including the landing site of the new Perseverance rover and its Mars helicopter – strong wind gusts did not sweep Elysium Planitia.
These winds, called “cleaning events,” are needed to blow Martian red dust off the solar panels of NASA robots. Without their help, a thick layer of dust has accumulated on InSight and they are struggling to absorb the sunlight.
(NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Above: The InSight camera captured an image of one of its dust-covered solar panels on February 14th.
InSight solar panels produced only 27% of their energy capacity in February, when winter arrived in Elysium Planitia.
So NASA decided to put the landing device in “hibernation mode”, turning off various instruments every day. Soon the robot will stop all functions that are not necessary for its survival.
By interrupting its scientific operations, the lander should be able to save enough energy to keep its systems warm on cold Martian nights, when temperatures can drop to a negative 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The amount of energy available in the next few months will really be driven by the weather,” Chuck Scott, InSight’s project manager, said in a statement.
Now almost halfway through its hibernation standby period, InSight is still in good condition, but the risk of a potentially fatal power outage is always present. If the lander’s batteries die, they may never recover.
“We would hope to bring him back to life, especially if he’s not asleep or dead for a long time,” Bruce Banerdt, chief investigator for InSight, told Insider. “But that would be an unpleasant situation.”
The agency expects to resume full InSight operations after Mars returns to the sun in July. If it can survive this Martian winter, the lander could continue to hear earthquakes and watch the weather until 2022.
InSight’s lack of energy contributed to NASA’s decision to abandon the lander’s “mole” in January. That burrow probe was to measure the temperature deep in the Martian crust – crucial data in the study of the history and internal structure of the planet.
Now scientists are losing even more data as the lander shuts down his instruments. Measurements of his time on Mars have become rare, and the next month, about the same time, he will stop listening to earthquakes.
Banerdt said he fears the lander could miss some major earthquakes, but it’s worth keeping the robot alive. If the InSight batteries die, he added, “it’s a good zombie spaceship” – meaning it’s scheduled to recharge and start up again at sunrise.
“The problem with this scenario is that in the meantime the spacecraft is very, very cold. And this is happening in the coldest part of the year for the spacecraft,” Banerdt said. “A lot of electronics are pretty delicate. And unfortunately, it’s quite likely that something will be damaged by the cold.”
Banerdt suspects this is what happened to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Both ran out of energy on the Martian surface and failed to refuel. However, he hopes that InSight will not have to die.
“Right now, our predictions, our projections are that we should be able to go through the lowest point of power and get out on the other side,” Banerdt said.
However, a strange dust storm over the next four to five months could tip the scales by piling more dirt on InSight’s solar panels. That’s what happened with Opportunity. But fortunately, this is not the season of dust storms.
“We think we’re pretty good, but Mars is unpredictable. We never know exactly what will happen,” Banerdt said.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
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