The latest disappointment on the Red Planet is the Mole Saga, also known as NASA’s InSight Landing Craft Thermal Probe. NASA has officially abandoned this part of the current mission. before a monthAfter over a year of trying to turn it on. The robotic driller was supposed to dig deep into the Earth and collect data on interior events on Mars. But the problems started in early 2019, when the probe couldn’t go more than an inch below the ground. In the field, engineers tried some strategies to get it moving, including attaching it to the robotic arm of the landing craft. Unfortunately, the ground will not cooperate. The team expected to find loose regolith, and instead encountered “duricrust”, a thick, cement-like substance. “We gave everything, but Mars and our hero body are still incompatible”, She said Principal investigator of the project, Tillman Spoon, in January 2021. “Fortunately, we have learned a lot who will benefit future missions that attempt to dig the ground.”
All of these painful memories make success sweeter, and we look forward to all the new science coming from the Persevering Rover.
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