NASA: Massive dust storm on Mars threatens InSight mission

NASA's InSight lander landed in November 2018 to study structure and seismic activity

Mars.It runs on solar energy, which it receives through panels and stores in batteries. But during the operation of the device, a large layer of dust accumulated on the panels. Now a record-breaking dust storm could significantly reduce energy production, which puts the continuation of the mission at risk.

"Now we're on the bottom rung iftalk about energy,” said Chuck Scott, project manager for InSight at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. “The device may survive this storm, but the next one is unlikely.”

InSight generated an average of 425 Wh perMartian day, this volume has now decreased to 275. To maintain the operation of the seismometer, communications and basic functions, it requires an average of about 300 Wh.

At the beginning of 2022, it was assumed that the missionmay end at the end of summer, but the number of storms for the season turned out to be less than predicted. At the same time, mission personnel understand that one powerful storm is enough to complete the work of InSight.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterOrbiter (MRO) took pictures of a large dust storm at a distance of about 3,500 km from the lander. For a while, power production remained stable, but after a few days, InSight drastically reduced power production.

The mission staff decided not to save energy, butlaunch a seismometer to continue collecting scientific data; recently, the device has alternated work and rest every 24 hours. The decision also means that, unlike many spacecraft, NASA will not send a command to InSight to complete the mission. When the power runs out, the lander will turn itself off.

Read more:

See what a woman, a priest and a bishop looked like in the Middle Ages. Their faces are alive

Recreate the Sun on Earth: how physicists solved the main problem of thermonuclear fusion

Created a compact nuclear reactor for safe energy production