NASA InSight Mars lander retires after four-year mission

NASA InSight mission to measure marsquakes – rumblings on Mars (similar to earthquakes on Earth) – has ended as the US space agency announced that it is retiring the robot seismologist. The lander, which was sent to the Red Planet for two years, sent data to Earth for more than four years.
“Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California were unable to contact the lander after two consecutive attempts, leading them to conclude the spacecraft’s solar-powered batteries have run out of energy – a state engineers refer to as ‘dead bus’, NASA said in a statement.

Previously, NASA said that it would declare the mission over if the lander missed two communication attempts. The agency clarified that it would still continue to listen for a signal from the lander but it is unlikely that the lander will communicate with the spacecraft orbiting Mars that sends its information from the lander to Earth.
The last time InSight communicated with Earth was on December 15. A thick layer of martian dust has settled on the solar panels of the lander which has cut its source of power generation.
“I watched the launch and landing of this mission, and while saying goodbye to a spacecraft is always sad, the fascinating science InSight conducted is cause for celebration,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

What was InSight lander’s mission?
The NASA InSight lander landed on the surface of Mars on November 26, 2018, on Elysium Planitia to study marsquakes. The data from the marsquakes will help scientists understand the interiors of rocky planets and set the stage for future missions.
As per Zurbuchen, the seismic data alone from this Discovery Program mission offers tremendous insights not just into Mars but other rocky bodies, including Earth.
“We can apply what we’ve learned about Mars’ inner structure to Earth, the Moon, Venus, and even rocky planets in other solar systems,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. Since its deployment, the lander has sent data of over 1,300 seismic events back to Earth.