Mars probe ‘Insight’ running out of power

Domenico Giardini, a seismologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) in Zurich, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday that researchers could evaluate the “Insight” data for decades. “Everything we measured with the Mars probe was completely new.”

Giardini coordinated the participation of ETHZ research groups in “Insight”. “It was a life project,” said the 64-year-old. About 25 years ago, he started the first preparations for this mission.

“The better we understand other planets like Mars, the better we’ll understand our own planet,” Giardini summed up the mission’s purpose. Because until about a billion years ago, the two planets Earth and Mars were very similar. “We then want to understand why they evolved in two such different directions.”

A large amount of data has now been collected for this type of analysis. “It was a huge success, the mission was definitely worth it,” said Giardini. Giardini was not surprised that the Martian probe’s power was slowly depleting. “More and more dust is accumulating in solar systems, and at one point there isn’t enough sun.” In almost four years – or two full Martian years – the probe was in use for almost twice as long as expected.

But officially the use of “Insight” is not over yet. NASA won’t announce mission completion until “Insight” misses two contacts with the Mars-orbiting spacecraft and relays the information to Earth.

The Mars probe landed on the red planet with multiple scientific instruments in November 2018. “Insight” (“Inner Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy, and Heat Transfer”) is a 360-kilogram robot that does not roll, but stays in one place. The mission “Insight” cost about 650 million euros.

(SDA)