It’s almost time To say hello to another Martian friend. Numerous missions to the Red Planet have gone silent for the last time, some after many years of successful data collection and some after a brief free fall like a fireball. We’ll be adding another Mars explorer to this ever-growing list soon… intuition Maybe he sent home his last photo.
Of Image It is itself similar to hundreds of others the probe has sent to Earth over the past four years. In the center of the image is the vehicle’s seismometer, which was intended to collect data on it concentrate And whose data has been used in dozens of newspapers. In this image, however, it is noticeably covered in a fine red dust that covers everything on the red planet.
This is the photo taken on November 6, 2022:
This dust also covers the InSight power supply. The solar panels are massively encapsulated and can therefore supply less and less energy to the lander itself. Sadly, InSight also got lucky or unlucky in an area of general calm for the Martian dust demons. While it can be difficult for the tools themselves to handle, dust devils also do a great job cleaning up dust-covered solar panels.
Another factor in dust accumulation is the design decision made by the InSight team at the outset of the project. Several methods can help remove dust from solar panels. The most common types are compressed air brushes and wiper blades similar to those found in automobiles. But InSight engineers decided not to include such a system in their probe.
Making these kinds of decisions is one of the hardest parts of engineering. Dust removal systems add weight and therefore cost more, both in design and to transport to Mars. Launch costs still take up a significant part of the project budget, so each system is checked to see if it’s really necessary. In the case of Insight, the team determined that the dust removal system was not.
There was one critical factor that led to this decision: the relatively short duration of the Insight mission as a whole. It was only supposed to last a year on Earth. He ended up with four.
What’s next for InSight
JPL video discussing InSight performance. Credit – NASA JPL YouTube channel
Even without the dust removal system, the Mission far exceeded its original expectations. Insight has cemented its place as one of the most prolific Martian probes to date. The data has been the basis of dozens of papers, and we’ve come to understand everything from the presence (or lack of) liquid water around the probe to the finding of magma in the same area.
Data like this would make any science team proud, and Insight participants had plenty of time to see the end coming. UT first reported its power problems in May. But while things have been going well over the past six months, it may soon be time to say goodbye to inland exploration with seismic survey, geodesy and thermal transport missions. It won’t be forgotten, maybe even brought back to life one day when people finally enter a landscape that no one has ever seen before.
This article was originally published universe today by Andy Thomaswick. Read the The original article is here.
