See how dust storms gradually destroy the traces of the InSight module on Mars

The HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite frequently takes pictures

landed spacecraft onsurface of the planet. Such images are used to check the position of Mars rovers, monitor the performance of landers that have stopped communicating, or track changes in terrain after major weather events.

The researchers found in new images takenMarch 9, 2022, a large amount of dust that has accumulated since InSight landed in November 2018. As scientists note, the dark zone of burnt and melted rock, which formed during the landing of the apparatus, has almost completely disappeared.

Landing site. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA

Experts say most of the changesassociated with a powerful storm that occurred on Mars in early 2022. The researchers also noticed traces of sand on the parachute that the lander dropped upon landing.

Parachute. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA

NASA researchers note that trackinglong-term changes in places such as the landing site of the InSight mission module helps to understand how dust is transported around Mars and to evaluate long-term changes in its surface.

HiRise (High Resolution Imaging Science)Experiment is a camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The camera features allow you to take photos with high resolution (up to 30 cm per pixel).

InSight (Interior Exploration using SeismicInvestigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport is a NASA mission to deliver a seismograph to Mars as part of the Discovery program. The device landed on the surface of the planet on November 26, 2018.

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