NASA’s InSight lander is stuck under a continent-sized dust storm on Mars

NASA’s InSight lander, which is on its last legs went through a drop in power generated its solar panel recently because of a continent-sized dust storm that is swirling over Mars’ southern hemisphere. The storm was first observed on September 21 this year NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and is roughly 3,500 kilometres away from the lander. Initially, it had little impact on InSight.

Skies are darkening a bit here, but I’m okay for now. I’m staying calm, and conserving my energy for a while, until the skies clear. I’ll continue operating for as long as possible.
Latest news: https://t.co/mCnsDtaR4N pic.twitter.com/gNkRfCR6Hr
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) October 7, 2022
The lander’s power level has been declining steadily as dust accumulates on the solar arrays, according to NASA. October 3, the storm became so large and was lofting so much dust that the thickness of the dusty haze in the Martian atmosphere had increased close to 40 per cent around InSight. Because of the lower amount of sunlight falling on its panels, the lander’s energy fell from 425 watt-hours per Martian day (sol) to just 275 watt-hours per sol.

The InSight lander’s seismometer has been operating for around 24 hours every Martian day but the drop in solar power means that its batteries cannot be completely charged at the end of every sol. If the mission were to continue at the current rate of discharge, it would only be able to operate for the next several weeks. In order to conserve energy, the mission will turn off the seismometer for at least two weeks.
The Mars Climate Imager on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter capture this image of the dust storms on Mars which can be seen as beige clouds in the image. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
“We were at about the bottom rung of our ladder when it comes to power. Now we’re on the ground floor. If we can ride this out, we can keep operating into winter – but I’d worry about the next storm that comes along,” said InSight’s project manager, Chuck Scott, in a NASA press statement.
The InSight team estimates that the mission would come to an end sometime between late October this year and January this year. The lander’s primary mission has already been completed and it is currently conducting the “bonus science” of measuring marsquakes to help scients learn more about the interior of Mars.