NASA's InSight lander recently received a mission extension of another two years, giving it time to
The probe is designed for a long service life:the stationary lander is equipped with solar panels, each of which is 2 meters wide. InSight's design is based on solar powered rovers Spirit and Opportunity, with the expectation that the panels will gradually reduce power output as the dust settles, but will have enough power to last for a two-year main mission, which was due to end last November. ...
In addition, the InSight team selected a location forlanding on Elysium Planitia - a shield volcano in the form of a very windy plain on the equator of Mars, which receives a lot of sunlight. It was hoped that the dusty devils passing by would help clean the panels, as had repeatedly happened to Spirit and Opportunity, allowing them to last for years beyond their design time.
But despite the fact that InSight found hundreds ofof the dust devils passing by, none have come close enough to clear these dining-table-sized panels since they deployed on Mars in November 2018. Today, InSight solar panels operate at just 27%. This power must be divided between scientific instruments, a robotic arm, a spacecraft radio, and various heaters that keep everything in working order, despite freezing temperatures. Since the windiest season of the Martian year has just ended, the NASA team is not looking forward to cleaning up solar panels in the coming months.
Mars is currently moving towards the so-calledaphelion - a point in its orbit that is farthest from the Sun. This means that already weak sunlight on the surface of Mars becomes even weaker, reducing power, while InSight needs most of the heaters to stay warm during this time. Mars will begin approaching the Sun again in July 2021, after which the team will be able to resume full-fledged scientific operations.
"The amount of energy available duringthe next few months will really depend on the weather. As part of our extended mission planning, we have developed an operating strategy to ensure InSight remains safe through the winter so we can resume science operations as solar activity increases."
InSight project manager Chuck Scott of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
In the coming weeks and months, InSight scientists willChoose carefully which tools need to be turned off each day to conserve energy for space heaters and energy-intensive activities such as radio communications. The InSight weather sensors will likely remain disabled most of the time (resulting in infrequent mission updates) and all instruments should be disabled for a while in the aphelion area.
The current power levels look likestrong enough to withstand the winter. But solar production on Mars is always a little uncertain. The Opportunity rover was forced to shut down after a series of dust storms eclipsed the Martian sky in 2019, and Spirit did not survive the 2010 Martian winter. Should the InSight fail due to a sudden dust storm, it is designed to be able to reboot when sunlight returns if its electronics survived extreme cold.
Later this week, InSight will be orderedextend a robotic arm over the panels so that the camera can take close-up shots of the dust cover. The team will then turn on the motors that deployed each panel after landing to try to blast the dust and see if the wind blows it off. The team thinks this is a long task, but worth it.
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