NASA’s Insight Mars spacecraft is in hibernation, trying not to die

NASA’s $ 800 million spacecraft is in an energy crisis.

InSight, which landed on a plain on Mars called Elysium Planitia in 2018, detected more than 500 earthquakes on Mars. 10,000 Dust Devils Pass it, and they start measuring the planet’s core.

But over the past few months, InSight has been fighting for its life as unexpected weather from the red planet threatens to annihilate the robot.

Unlike other sites where NASA has dispatched explorers and landing craft – including the new Perseverance rover landing site and Helicopter Mars Strong winds did not sweep Elysium Planetia. This wind, called the “clean-up event,” is needed to blow red Mars dust off NASA’s robotic solar panels. Without their help, InSight had accumulated a thick layer of dust, as it was trying to absorb sunlight.

InSight’s solar panels produced only 27% of their energy in February, when winter hit Elysium Planitia. So NASA Established Allows you to put the probes into “hibernation mode”, and turn off various instruments every day. The robot will immediately turn off all functions that are not needed for its survival.

By stopping its scientific operations, the probe should be able to provide enough energy to keep the system warm during the cold Mars nights, when temperatures drop to minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chuck Scott, InSight Project Manager, said deep statement.

Now roughly in the middle of the predicted hibernation period, InSight is still doing well, but the risk of a potential outage is always there. If the landing battery dies, it may never recover.

“We hope we can bring him back to life, especially if he doesn’t sleep or die for a long time,” Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s lead researcher, told Insider. “But it will be a suspicious situation.”

The agency expects to resume full InSight operations once Mars returns to the Sun in July. If the probe can survive this Martian winter, it can continue to listen for earthquakes and track the weather until 2022.

InSight can go to “zombies” after death

The lack of InSight energy contributed to NASA’s decision Ignore the landing craft “mole” In January. These drill probes are supposed to measure temperatures deep within the Martian crust – important data in studying the history and internal structure of planets.

Scientists are now losing even more data when the probe shuts down the device. Cut Martian weather measurements They’re becoming rare, and in the next few months, you’ll stop listening to Mars earthquakes.

Banerdt worries the spacecraft might miss some major earthquakes, but it’s worth keeping the robots alive. If the InSight battery dies, he adds, “that’s a good zombie spaceship” – meaning it’s programmed to recharge and restart as soon as the sun rises.

“The problem with this scenario is that meanwhile, the spacecraft is very cold. This happened during the coldest part of the year for a spacecraft, “said Banerdt. “A lot of electronic devices are very sensitive. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that something will be damaged by the cold. “

Banerdt suspects this is what happened to Spirit and Opportunity. The two of them ran out of power on the surface of Mars and were unable to restart. He hopes InSight doesn’t have to die.

“Right now, our prediction and expectation is that we should be able to get past the bottom of the strength and get out the other side,” said Banerdt.

However, a strange dust storm in the next four or five months could change the scale by accumulating more dirt on InSight’s solar panels. This is what happens with opportunity. Fortunately, however, this is not dust storm season.

“We thought we were rich, but Mars is unpredictable. We never know exactly what will happen, “said Banerdt.

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