NASA’s InSight Rover retires

According to The Verge NASA’s Insight has run out of power on the planet Mars. The Rover’s solar panels that generated its electricity was covered in dust that accumulated over time. The Rover was expected to run out of power during the summer, surprisingly it held on for a couple of more months.

The Rover’s job was to study the interior of the red planet. One of the main objectives for the Rover was to place a Seismometer on the surface of Mars to measure seismic activity and capture a 3-D model of the planet’s interior. This will also help scientists better understand how our solar system and the planets that consists of it formed and evolved. The Rover also helped collect data to measure heat transfer using a heat probe known as HP to study the early geological evolution of the planet.

Many scientists called the mission mostly successful, the Rover detected over 1,000 Mars quakes in its four years of operation.

“Another NASA employee, Bruce Banderdt, stated in a press release that he considered InSight to be a dear friend and colleague while operating on Mars for the past four years. Banderdt is the mission’s principal investigator, and he echoed Zurbuchen’s statements about the difficulties in saying goodbye. He also agreed that the rover has earned its well-deserved retirement.” –Giant Freaking Robot