In May 2022, members of NASA\u2019s InSight Mars lander team announced that power levels on the lander were diminishing and that they expected the lander to become inoperative by December 2022. However, InSight\u2019s teams want to push the lander to do as much as possible in its final months and have chosen to operate the lander\u2019s seismometer for longer than previously planned.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover, closing in on its 10-year landing anniversary on Mars, continues to drive around Gale Crater and investigate interesting rock and surface formations \u2014 providing scientists with hints to what Mars\u2019 ancient past may have looked like.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
InSight teams push for more science<\/p>\n
On May 17, 2022, team members of NASA\u2019s InSight Mars lander announced that the mission, which started with a launch from Vandenburg Space Force Base in May 2018, would close in late 2022 as power levels on the lander diminished.<\/p>\n
The original plan for InSight\u2019s final months was to slowly retire specific instruments and science operations as its power levels dropped lower and lower each day. The lander\u2019s arm was moved to its \u201cretirement position\u201d in late May, with instruments slowly being shut off as the weeks went on.<\/p>\n
However, in late June, teams revised their plans for InSight\u2019s final months to maximize the science they can get out of the lander. Initially, teams had planned to shut off the seismometer, the last operating science instrument, in late June to conserve energy. Instead, the team has now opted to keep the seismometer on until the end of August or into early September.<\/p>\n